Saints Row: Devastation
by HeartWritingM
Summary: After returning to Stilwater, things get rough for Ljubica and the Saints. Takes place following the events of Salvation. Rated M for language, violence, elements of horror, and adult situations.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Saints Row, just my characters and the plot. :p_

CHAPTER ONE

Ljubica groaned as her phone rang. She groaned again when she noticed it was three in the morning.

"What the fuck, Manny," she grumbled, moving away from Johnny and his wonderful embrace.

"_Boss_," Manny said sharply. "_Reports are coming in that some new group is attacking us all over Stilwater, but it seems to be centered around the cemetery_."

"Fucking shit," Ljubica growled. "Assemble the crew at Purgatory."

"What is it?" Johnny asked sleepily, reaching for his glasses. He plucked them from the nightstand, already rolling out of bed.

"Manny said some assholes are attacking us all over, get dressed," Ljubica told him, hanging up. She took a moment to admire the view.

Johnny didn't ask any more questions, and Ljubica felt herself smiling softly in appreciation. Johnny Gat could be as stubborn as anyone, but he also knew when it was time to just do as she said.

"He said it seemed to be centered around the cemetery," Ljubica went on, pulling up her riding pants. Freeing her Mamba riding jacket from the tangle of their clothing pile, she pulled that on before starting on her boots.

"If even one _chip_ is taken out of Aisha's tombstone..." Johnny growled dangerously.

Ljubica fought off a pang of jealousy. She knew that no matter what, Johnny still loved Aisha and always would. She didn't like it, but she could accept it.

_But he cares about you, too,_ she told herself sternly. Out loud, she said, "The crew will be here soon." She took a moment to pull her sleek, black hair into a pony tail, bangs trailing along her cheeks to frame her face.

Johnny was already loading weapons and stuffing them into a large duffel bag.

#

"Manny," Ljubica began, standing with the Saint of all Saints at her back. The turnout hadn't been as good as she'd hoped, but they were Saints and would make it work. "Since you know where the smaller pockets are already, take as many Saints as you need to sweep the city. Oleg, go with him."

Manny nodded, motioning for people to follow him to the parking lot.

"Of course," Oleg said, and turned to leave.

"Kinzie," Ljubica went on. "Monitor the traffic cameras and keep Manny informed of any changes in the situation."

"Already on it, Boss," the hacker replied, tapping away at her laptop with one hand while putting on a Bluetooth headset with the other.

Ljubica nodded, pleased. "The rest of you, you're coming to the cemetery with me."

#

Ljubica and her entourage arrived to see a dwindling group of Saints fighting for their lives, using a mausoleum as cover. Tires squealed as their various purple and gold vehicles screeched to a stop, and a purple Oppressor wheeled overhead. She and Johnny got out of her purple Torch convertible, and he was already raising a Tek-Z to his shoulder, scanning for threats.

The enemy was clothed all in black leather, lace, and bits of fishnet, with a sickly, pale orange, thinly drawn circle emblazoned across their backs. The emblem glowed eerily in the darkness. They favored long, medieval-looking swords and some kind of repeating crossbows for weapons.

"Saints!" Ljubica shouted, striding purposefully towards her people. "Let's show these fuckers who owns Stilwater!"

There was a cheer, and the remaining Saints renewed their fighting in earnest.

Ljubica pulled her purple-plated Shepherd, and began firing at a group near the mausoleum. Several of them fell in a bloody heap, bodies twisting as the force of her special explosive-tipped ammo hit them.

Then one of them got up. Then another. And yet another picked himself up off the ground, rushing towards her. Ljubica now knew why her Saints were in such a desperate fight.

Johnny's SMG rattled next to her, mowing her enemies back down, and this time they stayed down.

"The fuck!" Ljubica drawled, almost wistful-sounding.

"Guess we gotta kill 'em twice, Boss!" Johnny shouted, sounding all-too eager. He slammed in a fresh magazine, grinning, and started shooting again.

Ljubica dropped her own empty mag and replaced it, and she and Johnny worked their way towards her beleaguered gang members. She placed a call to Manny.

"Manny, you have to kill these pigs twice!" she shouted, firing several times.

The Saints finally began to gain some ground, pushing the enemy back, but the rank and file still took heavy losses. As the last Saint died, Johnny left the cover of the mausoleum, sending a withering barrage of lead down field, and Ljubica couldn't help but grin as she watched him, stepping away from cover herself. She felt regret at losing so many of her own, but they had managed to turn the surprise attack into a victory.

Johnny chanced a look over his shoulder. "'Bout time you joined me out here," he teased. "I was beginning to think you'd gone soft on me."

"Can't have you thinking _that_," Ljubica retorted, shooting a fresh body on the ground to make sure it stayed down.

Seemingly out of thin air, a figure cloaked entirely in tattered black appeared behind her, holding a long, serrated, and just plain wicked-looking knife dripping with some sort of foul ichor. He stabbed Ljubica in the lower back, giving the blade a twist before ripping it out of her.

Ljubica cried out sharply, stumbling as she turned, and raised her pistol.

"Mission accomplished," the figure moaned, voice otherworldly and androgynous. Lightning suddenly flashed, and thunder boomed in the darkened sky. A torrential rain began falling from the storm that had moved in over the city during the fighting.

"Ljuba!" Johnny cried, and with a roar tackled the assassin. Consumed with rage, the fight was short, and he nearly twisted the creature's head completely off when he snapped it's neck.

"Hey," Ljubica drawled, sounding strained. "I... h-had him..." And then she collapsed to her knees, before falling over onto her side.

"I'm here!" Johnny said earnestly, scrambling over to her side. He tore his shirt off, trying to pack the wound to stem the flow of blood, then dug her phone out. He hurled it against a tombstone when he saw it was dead, broken in the fall.

"Hang in there, babe," he told her, picking her up as gently as he could.

"Don't... call me babe," she muttered, laying against his chest.

"Deal," he replied. "Just so long as you promise not to die on the way to the fuckin' hospital."

Ljubica's voice was pained, eyes going wide as the agony of the poison coursing through her body grew stronger. "B-bargain... struck."

Johnny rushed to the parking lot, jerked open the passenger door of her convertible, and carefully placed Ljubica in the passenger seat. He slid across the rain-slicked hood and hopped in to the driver's seat.

Then he realized her car was a manual transmission. "Fuck!"

Ljubica rolled her head to one side, eyelids fluttering as she fought to remain conscious. Her accent was thicker, voice slurring. "One day I will teach you how to be driving stick."

"Ain't it supposed to be the other way around?" he joked. "How hard can it be, anyway?"

Johnny tried to start the car, and nothing happened.

"Clutch p-pedal... in," Ljubica managed.

"Which one's the fuckin' clutch?" he asked heatedly. "Fuck! We ain't got _time_ for this!"

Johnny angrily flung open the door and saw a purple Criminal nearby, gold wheels glittering in the flashes of lightning. "That fucker's gotta be an automatic," he said to himself, hopeful. "Not like the owner needs it anymore."

Johnny smashed the driver's side window out, ignoring the sting of cuts on his fist and forearm, and looking into the footwell he saw only two pedals. "Now we're in business!" He rushed back to Ljubica's car.

"Come on, Ljuba," he urged, lifting her out of the vehicle. "Stay with me."

Ljubica grimaced, gritting her teeth, but a whimper escaped her anyway.

"Sorry, but I gotta move you to something I can fuckin' drive," Johnny told her. He couldn't understand why she was so hurt, the Boss was practically made of steel.

Ljubica shook her head. "Not the fault of yours... hurts... e-everywhere. Getting shot feels not as bad."

Johnny frowned as he jerked open the truck's passenger door. Her english was getting worse, and that didn't strike him as a good thing. He set her down as gently as possible, but quickly, and then ran around to get in on the other side. The Criminal roared to life, and he floored it, bouncing over a curb and median, and out onto the streets of Stilwater.

#

Ljubica woke up to the feeling of being rushed along on her back, strange masked faces hovering over her. She did recognize one face and it's worried-looking brown eyes. She tried to offer Johnny a faint smile, but a wave of agony seared through her, and she cried out instead.

"Hang in there, Boss!" Johnny urged as her gurney was pushed through the ER doors.

"I have been surviving worse," Ljubica managed.

"Damn right!" Johnny shot back, intense. Then, turning to the head surgeon, his voice was low and menacing. "If she dies, so does every last mother fucker in this hospital."


	2. Chapter 2

_Quick note of thanks: _Thank you_ to everyone that's been reading and Favoriting my stories :) A big thanks to MDGeistMD02 and Double H19 for their reviews :D_

CHAPTER TWO

Johnny kicked the vending machine as if it had personally done him wrong, and a bag of chips fell to the bottom. Grinning, he bent down and scooped them out, tearing open the bag and eating them with a voracious appetite. Turning at a sound, he saw Manny walking in to the snack area.

"How's she doing?" the younger Saint asked.

"The Boss is the closest thing to immortal that I've ever fuckin' seen," Johnny replied around a mouthful of chips. "She can get hurt, badly even, but I'll be damned if she knows how to actually die."

Manny nodded. "What happened?"

"Some _bitch_ appeared out of the air like a ghost and stuck her in the back," Johnny growled, crushing the bag of chips and shoving them into the trash. "Fuckin' pussy couldn't even face her."

"When are they releasing her?" Manny asked.

Johnny chuckled. "Whenever she wants to go home. Look, I need to get back to her room."

Manny nodded. "Please give her my best wishes when she wakes up."

"Will do," Johnny said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder before heading back to Ljubica's room.

#

Everything was pain. Ljubica could barely focus on anything other than the unrelenting burning. It consumed every inch of her flesh, and yet came from within as well, searing everything in it's path. Sometimes she thought she heard Johnny talking, but couldn't be sure.

And the pain continued growing.

#

"What the fuck do y'mean she's getting worse!" Johnny bellowed, lifting the doctor up into the air by his collar. "I meant what I said, mother fucker! She dies, everyone dies!"

"Please, Mr. Gat!" the doctor implored. "We're doing the best we can!"

"Do better!" Johnny rumbled, setting the man down roughly.

"Her wound is doing remarkably well for so short a time, but her vitals are slowly deteriorating despite our efforts."

"How 'bout you do something _useful_, then," Johnny growled. "Like find out fuckin' why!"

#

Through sheer force of her considerable will, Ljubica opened her eyes. Her world was a blurred smear, and agony enveloped her, but she wanted to _see_ him again.

Before she died. The thought of leaving her Saints behind hurt, but leaving Johnny behind rended her very being.

"Johnny..." she croaked.

"I'm here!" he said urgently, taking her hand. "I knew you couldn't fuckin' die."

The relentless suffering tried to snuff out her consciousness again, but she screamed, forcing the haze of black around her vision back. "Fuck, I think I _am_ dying, i-it hurts, Johnny... terribly."

"Shut the fuck up," Johnny chided. "You're the most hard-ass bitch I know. You _can't_ be killed as far as I'm concerned."

Ljubica shrieked, back arching as the torturous pain flared stronger, and then she collapsed into unconsciousness again.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

"You're fuckin' dyin' and nobody seems to know why," Johnny growled. He sat in an uncomfortable chair next to Ljubica's bedside.

Ljubica's life monitor's beeped, cold and sterile.

"I hate feeling like there ain't shit I can do, Ljuba!"

After several moments, he punched the wall, leaving a crater in the plaster. "Fuck I hate seein' you like this, stuffed with all sorts of tubes. It's fuckin' Stilwater Penitentiary all over again!"

The door opened, and a doctor walked in.

"Tell me good news, doc," Johnny said in a warning tone.

"Actually, we do have some good news," the balding man said. "A lab tech finally discovered something. She's been poisoned."

"Tell me you have the fuckin' antidote."

"We can neutralize some of the compounds," the doctor went on.

"Define _some_," Johnny demanded.

"It's some kind of cocktail, and we don't have what we need for everything. Some of it we've never even heard of, Mr. Gat."

Johnny nodded. "So, fix her the best you can."

"Please understand that she'll have to do the rest on her own, there are no guarantees..." the doctor began, sounding nervous.

"This bitch can survive anything," Johnny said with a grin. People were finally doing something. "Give that lab geek a bonus or somethin'"

The doctor nodded. "A nurse will start the injections into her IV shortly."

#

Ljubica's eyes fluttered open. Her entire body ached and burned at the same time, but it was a lot better than the agony she'd been in.

"I knew you couldn't die," Johnny said from her bedside, voice weary, but relieved.

"What the fuck happened?" she asked. "This is not my first time being stabbed."

"That piece of shit poisoned you, Ljuba," Johnny told her. "We almost lost you, the doctors couldn't figure it out, said it was some shit they'd never seen before."

"That explains why it hurt so bad," Ljubica said, starting to lower the side rails of her bed.

"Easy," Johnny advised. "You been in here for almost a week."

"A week!" Ljubica cried, shoving the railing down. She pulled the IV out of her hand and swung her legs out. "Where are my clothes?"

"Would you relax already?" Johnny grumbled, but handed over her clothes, favorite Mamba jacket folded on top.

"No time," she shot back, quickly pulling on her clothing.

"Those assholes are all over Stilwater, now," Johnny finally said. "It don't matter."

"See? No time," Ljubica retorted. She was dressed, and finding a hair tie in her pocket, pulled her hair back into a quick pony tail.

Johnny handed her Shepherd to her.

"That's why I love you, Johnny Gat, priorities," Ljubica quipped, giving him a quick kiss and tucking her pistol into it's holster. The jacket coved it from view nicely. "Let's get the fuck out of here and take back my city."

#

"Sorry, Boss," Manny said, standing near the door of her office. "They attacked again and again, in growing numbers."

Ljubica frowned, but nodded. "What do we know?"

Johnny stood by her side, arms crossed. He hadn't left her side since she as stabbed.

"They're hard to kill, and have lots of numbers," her youngest lieutenant told her. "And they use weird weapons."

Manny tossed the somewhat bulky, pistol crossbow he'd been holding onto her desk. It appeared to have many rotating barrels, and a box magazine.

"It fires really fast," he went on. "Those darts can rip through vehicles, people, it doesn't seem to matter."

"How quaint," Ljubica mused.

"They've started using zombies, too," Manny said quickly, and then crossed himself.

Ljubica all-but felt Johnny stiffen beside her, but he remained silent.

"Now I am regretting not keeping the zombie gas as Oleg suggested," Ljubica said. "Thank you, Manny, that will be all."

Manny nodded and left.

"You're out on this one," Ljubica ordered as soon as the door closed.

"The fuck I am," Johnny shot back, tone nearly derisive. "And if you get attacked by some ghost assassin fuck again?"

"They won't get me twice," she retorted. "And you're going nowhere _near_ anyone that can control zombies."

"You know I'm gonna do it anyway," he replied with a cocky grin. This was the first time his condition had become a point of contention between them.

Ljubica frowned. "The fuck you are Johnny Gat!"

"Fight fire with fire and all that," he said, and then a sharp, stabbing pain hit him in the middle. He grunted, and reached over to hold his side. "I, uh, need to go for a few minutes."

Ljubica nodded. "Go on."

Johnny nodded his thanks and rushed out the door. He had to periodically inject himself with Tera's 'cure' or would revert back to being a zombie. He'd already tried eating her once. Neither of them liked it, but it beat the alternative by a long shot.

There was a knock on the door, too soon to be Johnny.

"It's Manny," Manny said from the other side.

"Come in."

"I think I know someone that can help us," Manny told her, closing the door behind him.

"Oh?" Ljubica asked, genuinely curious.

"My sister is a witch of sorts," he said. "Voodoo."

"Set up a meeting," Ljubica told him. "Fight fire with fire indeed."

#

"She mostly keeps to herself," Manny explained as they approached his sister's apartment. It was in a small complex near Stillwater University. "Try not to scare her too badly?"

Ljubica chuckled. "As long as she doesn't give me trouble, she will be finding nothing scary about me."

Manny knocked on the door. After several moments, a timid-looking Hispanic woman opened the door a crack, peeking out. Seeing Manny, she opened the door wider. She was pretty in a waifish sort of way, with big brown eyes and long, dark, curly hair. Her features weren't as strong as her brother's.

"Manny, it is good to see you," she said, voice soft. Her Hispanic accent was thicker than her brother's. "And you brought your girlfriend, I see."

Manny looked embarrassed, and Johnny cleared his throat quietly. Ljubica chuckled.

"I am not being his girlfriend," Ljubica said dryly. "Manny is my mechanic."

"I work for her, Ramona," Manny added, nodding quickly.

"And who is he?" Ramona asked, jutting her chin at Johnny.

"You live under a fuckin' box?" Johnny asked. "I'm Johnny Gat. _The_ Johnny Gat."

"And _he_ is being with me," Ljubica added, backing into him. He rest his chin on the top of her head, hunching over slightly.

"Ain't we adorable?" Johnny asked sarcastically.

"There's trouble," Manny said. "Can we come in?"

Ramona let out a long-suffering sigh, but stepped out of the way. "I don't want my place shot up, Manny."

"Not that kind of trouble," Ljubica said, moving past her.

Ramona's apartment was small and tidy. The furniture was mismatched and obviously secondhand, but everything was neatly arranged and clean.

"There's a new crew in town that uses black magick," Manny told his sister. "I told the Boss that maybe you could help."

"Wait, magic?" Johnny interrupted. "These guys ain't usin' hocus-fuckin-pocus! The Boss wasn't damned-near killed by smoke and mirrors, kid!"

"Easy, Johnny," Ljubica urged.

Ramona shook her head. "Magick," she said, emphasizing the final syllable. "A bunch of people showed up at work the other day and cleared us out."

"And where are you working?" Ljubica asked.

"Eye For An Eye," Ramona replied. "They pay someone of my talents pretty well, and it pays for school, so..."

Ljubica nodded. "I'd like to be adding you to _my_ payroll, as an advisor of sorts."

"We need your help, sis," Manny said somberly. "I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't important."

"Yes, otherwise you wouldn't soil yourself and your precious white Christ with my presence," Ramona retorted, sounding bitter.

"That's not fair," Manny insisted. "I got stuck in Steelport and you know it. I don't avoid you because of your faith."

"You two can debate religion later," Ljubica told them. "But right now we've got shit to be doing."

The siblings glanced at one another, but nodded.

"Good," Ljubica said. "Now, let's get back to Purgatory and plan out how we're taking these bags of shit down."

#

"Rise from your graves!" a woman's voice called over Stilwater Cemetery, both a gentle contralto, and yet oozing power and presence.

Eerily orange lightning lit the night sky, and thunder crashed. Wind whipped her long, black hair away from her face, a face slightly aged by time, but still attractive. Her black dress clung to her curves, leaving her shoulders and arms bare while reaching the ground. She wore copper circlets on her upper arms, and her feet were bare.

"Come to me, your Mother demands you rise!"

There was a deep thrum, followed by an explosion of shadow. A pale grey hand sprung from the earth, clawing it's way to the surface. An arm followed, and a body pulled itself from the earth's embrace. It's flesh was whole and smooth, any previous decay gone, and the distinctly Asian woman looked towards her Mother.

"Hello, Mother," Lin purred. Her voice sounded somewhat distant, otherworldly.

Another pale, grey body clawed it's way from the earth, lanky and tall. He was Hispanic, and still wore a tattered, decayed purple skullcap with a ragged hole in the front of it. He, too, looked toward his Mother.

"Hello, Mother," Carlos said, voice eerie and cold.

And still a third body broke the surface of the earth, greyed skin a few shades darker than the other two. She appeared to be a woman of African descent, hair cut into a fashionable pixie cut, and turned her head to her Mother. Her voice, too, was unnatural and dark when she spoke.

"Hello, Mother," Aisha said softly.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Ljubica watched the coming storm from the roof of Purgatory, wind blowing her loose hair from her face, and she was seemingly lost in thought. There was a noise behind her, and without turning she knew who it was.

"I'm going to tie you down to that bed and leave you there, Johnny Gat," Ljubica said angrily. "I lost you once, I'm not losing you again."

"You ain't gonna lose me, Ljuba," Johnny replied sternly. "Fuck that bitch Ramona. She's just jealous that her zombies don't look half this good."

Ljubica shook her head, and it started to sprinkle. "All I do is lose my friends. Lin, Carlos, Aisha, you..."

"You brought me back," Johnny told her gently, moving to stand behind her. He put his arms around her middle, and she pushed back against him.

"That was luck," Ljubica said quietly. "And it almost didn't work. It is barely working now."

"You seized an opportunity," Johnny retorted, kissing the back of her neck. "And it works enough for me."

"What if we save Aisha?" Ljubica asked. "What will happen to us?"

Johnny was quiet for several moments. "Don't make me answer that, Ljuba."

Ljubica stepped away, and Johnny let her go.

"Fuck," Johnny grumbled. "What the fuck do you want me to say? Aish and I didn't break up, she was murdered right in front of me!"

"Knowing you are loving her still, and hearing it, are different things. One I can be dealing with, the other is much harder than I was thinking."

"Ljubica," Johnny said, pulling her back against himself. "You're here now, and I love you, all right?"

Ljubica went still, and the rain started pouring in sheets, and still she made no move to go inside. Johnny stayed with her, unwilling to leave. They had never really discussed what was going on between them, and he'd never said he loved her before, not like that.

"Enough emo shit," Ljubica growled. "Let's go inside."

Johnny laughed. "'Bout time you got a grip on yourself."

#

Ramona watched Johnny a little too much for Ljubica's taste. Her simple black dress had a purple sash added to it, and her feet were bare. Only Johnny and Viola were around, so it was time to bring it up.

"Got a problem?" Ljubica asked.

"Hmm?" the younger woman asked in response.

"Quit fucking staring at Johnny every time my back is turned," Ljubica growled. It wasn't jealousy, it was Johnny's secret that she as concerned with.

"I know what he is," Ramona said quietly. "You need to let him go."

Viola listened intently.

Ljubica frowned. "You don't know what the fuck you are talking about."

"I have raised my own zombies," the vaudun priestess retorted. "Though admittedly not so full of life."

"That's because he isn't being dead, stupid bitch," Ljubica grated. Her hand went to her Shepherd's grip, and she drummed her fingertips on it.

Ramona pressed the issue anyway. "I know what death feels like."

"Will you two stop talkin' about me like I ain't here?" Johnny grumbled. "And for what it's worth, I feel pretty damned alive."

"Anyone finds out, and you are dying shortly after them," Ljubica said dangerously. "Do you understand?"

Ramona nodded. "The soul is gone upon death. You need to stop holding on to this empty shell."

"Fuck that, Johnny is mine," Ljubica growled, and knew she meant it. Every fiber screamed it suddenly. Johnny Gat was _hers._

"No offense, Boss, but I ain't property," Johnny said, chuckling.

"You know what I am meaning," Ljubica shot back.

"His personality retainment seems remarkable, too," Ramona noted. "Still, how can you sleep with this dead thing-…"

Viola frowned, losing herself in thought. _Do I really want to do this to Kiki? Is it even fair to her? Will it really even _be_ her, or just a soulless imitation?_

"That's because he is not a fucking walking corpse!" Ljubica all-but-shouted. Now her hand rested on the butt of her pistol, and she flicked the safety off.

"Boss, ease down," Johnny urged, moving to rub her shoulders.

Manny entered the living area, then, grease on his forearms and face. "I just got a text, this new crew is calling themselves the Circle."

"I don't care if they're calling themselves Mary Fucking Poppins!" Ljubica said heatedly, then took a breath, offering Manny an apologetic look. "Thanks, Manny."

Before she could say anything more, there was an explosion from the parking lot above. The lights flickered, and plaster rained down from the ceiling.

"Shit," Ljubica spat, pulling her Shepherd and jacking a round into the chamber. "Sounds like we are having visitors."

#

The parking lot outside Purgatory was a war zone. The Circle's vehicles lined one side of the alley, mostly black Beziers with orange trim pieces and wheels, but there were several Wakazashis and a few Kenshin in the mix of similar coloring. The battle was in full force by the time Ljubica and her lieutenants stepped off the elevator.

"Manny, call Oleg," Ljubica ordered. "These assholes are _not_ taking Purgatory."

Johnny's Tek-Z rattled off a burst, and a Circle gang member fell for his final time. Viola put her Ultimax to her shoulder, scanning for nearby threats.

"Saints!" Ljubica called, voice carrying across the lot. "These stupid bags of shit think they can be taking our _home_ from us! Fuck that!"

A cheer rose up from the fighting Saints, and they renewed their efforts.

Ramona cast her arms out wide, closing her eyes. Her hair seemed to blow in a breeze that wasn't there, and everyone close to her felt their skin crawl. After a few moments, she whispered, "Death comes."

Three figures emerged from a side alley. All were dressed from the neck down in form-fitting black leather, small plates sewn together with orange thread. Their skin was a pale grey color, hair jet black, and they had only an ornate katana on their back for weapons. Their gloves had armored backings, and the sleeves of their tops were made of orange fishnet. One of them, the male, had an orange skullcap pressed onto his head. The irises of all three's eyes were bright orange.

"Aish?" Johnny whispered.

Ljubica looked over at him for a moment, and wished she hadn't. Johnny never looked at her like that, so full of need and yearning, but especially the love etched into his face. She wrenched her eyes away from him and back towards the threat.

"Look at you," Lin purred, looking Ljubica up and down. "All grown up, now. You're definitely a sight for sore eyes."

"You're dead, Lin," Ljubica said quietly. "You, too, Carlos." She'd seen them both as zombies courtesy of Eye For An Eye, but now they looked quite alive, aside from their pale, nearly grayish pallor. Sinister, but eerily beautiful.

"Come with us, Johnny," Aisha urged. "You can be with me forever."

"They're fucking with our heads, comrades!" Ljubica cried, and raised her Shepherd in a teacup grip, aiming it at Lin's face. The look on the other woman's face said 'I dare you.'

"I always loved your accent," Lin said, grinning slyly.

"We're not here to kill you," Carlos said. "Join us."

"I put a bullet in your brain once, Carlos," Ljubica said, shaking her head. "As a mercy. If you don't stop attacking us, I will fucking be putting another one there!"

The Circle's weapons all ceased firing at once. Even the zombies stopped moving.

"Cease firing!" Ljubica barked, and the gunfire from the Saints petered out.

"Boss," Johnny said, sounding pained. "You take Aish for me, an' I'll pop Lin for you."

"No!" Ljubica cried, and wished her voice hadn't sounded so insistent. The look on Johnny's face told her he wished it hadn't either.

Lin smiled slyly. "Boss? You always were so... ambitious. Is that why you let me die? Didn't want me in the way? We could have had something, you know."

"Fuck you, Lin, I killed that asshole Sharp for you!" Ljubica shouted, feeling angry and betrayed that Lin would think she'd let her die on purpose.

_Does everyone I let die feel that way?_ she wondered bitterly.

"Always good at revenge," Carlos agreed somberly. "Never good at the saving."

Ljubica aimed at Carlos. "But I am plenty good at the killing."

A purple Criminal careened into the parking lot, tires screeching as it slid to a stop. Oleg hopped out of the back, and Kinzie flung open the driver's door, pulling her AS3 Ultimax out with her.

"Well, hello Nurse," Lin purred, taking in Oleg. Her dark eyes seemed to flash orange for a split second. "I want the big one."

"Can I take her home with me?" Carlos asked, leering at Kinzie. "I want to know if redheads taste like ginger or cinnamon."

Oleg popped his neck, gritting his teeth. "Over my dead body," he said dangerously.

"Only if I can have the big guy," Lin shot back, ignoring Oleg. "I bet he's _real_ hard to kill."

"I get Johnny," Aisha said. "I don't care about the rest."

"Fuck that, Johnny's _mine_ and you're not taking any of my Saints away tonight!" Ljubica said darkly. Her Shepherd was aiming at Lin again. She seemed to be the one in charge.

Lin laughed. "You and _Gat_? Oh, that's _rich_! I didn't even know you _played_ for that team. I figured with all the time you spent trying to get in my-..."

Ljubica squeezed the trigger, and the bullet went through Lin's face like it was made of smoke.

"-...pants," Lin continued, as if nothing had happened, "you weren't interested in men."

Ljubica looked at her Shepherd. "The fuck?" she drawled.

"Yeah, doesn't work on me, hon," Lin informed her. "Nice try, though."

With a vicious snarl, Ljubica threw her pistol aside and tackled Lin. As they landed hard on the concrete, Ljubica punched her, splitting the woman's lip open.

That worked.

Johnny had just enough time to grapple with Aisha as she lunged at him.

Carlos shrugged, grinned at Kinzie, and drew his sword. The blade was black and dull, seemingly absorbing the light around it. He advanced on her slowly, slicing open his forearm and licking the thick, orange ichor off the blade.

Johnny pinned Aisha to the wall of Purgatory, and she grinned at him. "Ooh, baby, you remember what I like."

Johnny let go of her as if he'd been burned, telling himself this was _not_ his Aisha. "Boss?" he called.

"They're not who we remember!" Ljubica called back, as Lin rolled on top of her. "Fuck them up!"

"I remember lots of this," Lin teased, and Ljubica heaved, bucking the other woman away and gaining the advantage.

"Fuck you!" Ljubica spat, letting her rage consume her. Lin was incredibly strong, and it was taking nearly all of her effort just to keep things somewhat even between them. When Lin landed a blow to her face, it felt like she'd been hit with a baseball bat.

Aisha pulled her sword and slashed at Johnny, who narrowly stepped aside to avoid it. He backhanded her as she stumbled by.

Carlos slashed at Kinzie, and she managed to avoid him, too, though lacking any grace whatsoever, and hit him with the butt of her shotgun.

"Oleg!" she cried shrilly. "A little help here!" Oleg tackled the Circle Lieutenant, sword clattering to the ground as the brutish man pummeled him.

Lin straddled Ljubica and drew her sword, stabbing downward. Ljubica managed to twist just enough, so that the blade only slid across her shoulder, slicing it open before burying itself in the concrete instead of skewering her. Lin tried to jerk it free, and failing that, grabbed Ljubica by the throat.

"You took away my toy," Lin mock-pouted. "Time to make another one."

Lin jerked Ljubica upward and kissed her. The Russian woman's mind reeled as her body responded to something much deeper and more pleasant than any kiss.

Ljubica's mind registered someone screaming for her, but the scent of lilacs was nearly overpowering. There was a strange euphoria to it all, and an overwhelming urge to just give in crashed into her. It could be like this always, if she just gave in to it. If she would just give in to Lin.

_Johnny doesn't smell like this,_ her mind managed to reason, and that was enough to bring her back from the precipice. _And I am being no one's _toy!

Ljubica summoned what remained of her ebbing strength and violently flung Lin off of her.

"Bitch," Ljubica spat, wiping her mouth with her wrist, but the taste was still there, sinful and inviting.

"Now I have to kill you," Lin sighed. "Why couldn't you just come quietly?"

"I don't know how to be doing anything quietly," Ljubica shot back.

"That's the truth," Lin retorted, sly smile playing on her lips. "You always were a screamer."

Ljubica caught Carlos' sword out of the corner of her eye. As Lin rushed forward, Ljubica stepped to the side, letting the Asian woman rush past, and snatched it up from the ground. Spinning, she thrust it through Lin's lower back, and the former Saint fell to her knees. Pale orange ichor oozed from the wound, running down her back and leg.

"If it bleeds, we can kill it," Ljubica growled, wrenching the blade free. Lin cried out, falling forward onto her hands. The ichor that seemed to serve as their blood dripped freely from her mouth, puddling on the cold concrete.

Suddenly Carlos and Aisha were there, helping Lin up. As one, the trio leapt onto a nearby building as if they were only just hopping over a low wall.

"Fuck that," Ljubica grated, heading for the elevator to take her to the roof, and her Vulture.

Johnny grabbed her wrist. "They're gone, Boss."

Ramona nodded. "They are gone."

Ljubica jerked herself free, chest heaving. Death was on her mind. She punched the elevator button. "Sorry, Johnny, but I'm killing your dead ex-girlfriend and her dead comrades. Don't try to stop me again."

Johnny turned her around and slapped her.

Ljubica was stunned for a brief moment, then dove into Johnny, sending them both tumbling to the pavement. But he got what he wanted, which was to redirect her anger.

"You mother fucker!" Ljubica screamed, hitting him over and over again.

Johnny managed to grab one wrist, then the other. He was _much_ stronger, now, and held her easily.

"Boss, relax!" he barked. "They're _gone._ And do you really think blowin' up half the city to try and kill things that can't be shot is worth it? You wanna be like that Temple asshole? You're not thinkin' clearly, Lin fucked your head _real_ good."

Ljubica was silent for several moments, still seething. Then she nodded and got up, offering Johnny a hand up.

Johnny took her hand. "Welcome back."

Ljubica looked around, noting the heavy casualties on both sides, but she still had a lot of Saints left standing.

"Our boys are getting better about killing these assholes," she said. "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."

#

Ljubica was just walking out of her bedroom, hair still damp from her bath, when a male Saint brought her a package. She had on a pair of purple jeans that fit her well, and a long-sleeved black sweater. Her feet were bare. Wary, she read the name on the box, and actually squealed when she saw who it was from.

"Oleg, come, you will be enjoying this!" she cried, heading for her office.

As Oleg stood from his chess game with another Saint, he bumped the table, knocking the pieces over. "My apologies," he said, smirking, and followed her.

Ljubica closed the door behind them and headed to the shelf above her desk that was lined with shot glasses. Oleg admired the collection, but when her right sleeve fell, revealing her tattoo of the faery, he grabbed her wrist.

"Where did you get this tattoo?" he asked, in Russian.

Ljubica went still, cold, and her tone promised death if she was not obeyed when she spoke. "Let go of me right now, Oleg. You know not what you do."

Oleg released his grip, voice still low. "Where."

"None of your fucking business," Ljubica told him. "Do you still want what Cousin Niko sent me?"

Oleg furrowed his brow, but his demeanor calmed immediately. "You have a cousin named Niko? Niko Bellic?"

"How did...?" Ljubica asked, bewildered.

"Of course, it makes sense, now," Oleg was saying, hand to his chin. "You look just like her."

"What makes sense?" she asked. "Look like who?"

"Ljubica?" Oleg asked cautiously. "Is it really you?"

"How did you know-..." Ljubica began angrily, wondering who she was about to hunt down and kill.

"That tattoo, it is your mother's design," Oleg continued. "She drew it on the cover of a book she wrote for you, while pregnant with you."

Ljubica dropped the glass she was holding, and the sound of it shattering was the only sound for several long moments. Her mother had died giving birth, and she only knew her mother through stories told to her by her father.

"How could you possibly be knowing these things?" she asked angrily, switching back to English.

"I knew your parents," he explained. "And I worked with your father for the government."

"You knew my parents," Ljubica stated quietly.

Oleg nodded, chuckling. "You probably don't remember me bouncing you on my knee."

Ljubica shook her head.

"Your father loved you, Ljuba," Oleg told her. "He always talked about his little girl, how strong she was, always bossing the village boys around when playing."

Ljubica smirked. She'd been a hellion to those poor boys.

"He wanted you to have this," Oleg said, pulling three old photographs from his jacket. "I have carried them for nearly twenty years."

Oleg handed them over to her, and Ljubica stared at them in wonder. He was telling the truth.

One was a picture of her mother's book, and Ljubica still had that book hidden in the best safe money could buy. Another was of her father and Oleg. Arkady Konarshayev looked just how she remembered, strong and proud, before disappearing and never coming home. She shoved down a pang of sadness, and looked at the last picture.

It was a woman, young, beautiful, and smiling, looking over her shoulder. Long waves of lustrous black hair fell down her back, and the smile lit up her face, grey eyes sparkling with obvious joy. The resemblance was striking, and Ljubica knew immediately that this was her mother. Memories came back to her, and she remembered seeing this picture several times while growing up.

"I remember this picture, now," she said softly. "Father used to tell me it was taken by a man passing through town, in exchange for helping him fix his car."

"You remind me of Andjela often," Oleg said gently. "Your personality and beauty are very, very similar."

Ljubica was quiet for several moments. "Thank you for this, comrade. What happened to my father to make him give these to you..."

Oleg looked somber for a moment. "I am unsure, but I fear Arkady is dead."

Ljubica nodded, refusing to give in to the sorrow in her heart. Oleg said himself that he didn't know for sure. Instead, she pulled a bottle of vodka from the box she'd opened.

"Niko gets it from the old country and sends me some from time to time," she explained, pouring each of them a shot. She didn't want to talk about her family anymore.

"To old friends and family," Oleg said, raising his glass.

"To old friends and family," Ljubica repeated.

They each downed their drink.

"Finer than anything available here," Oleg said, setting his empty glass aside.

Ljubica nodded. "Again, Oleg, thank you for carrying these to me. It means a lot."

Oleg grinned. "For Arkady's daughter, it is no trouble."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

"These will offer a barrier to their powers," Ramona said, handing out silver fleur-de-lis necklaces to all the Lieutenants. "And obviously use a sword on them."

Ljubica peered at hers critically. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are being no match for a good pistol at your side, kid."

Kinzie coughed into her hand, trying really hard not to laugh. It was close enough. After the conversation with Kia aboard the Thermopylae, she definitely knew: the Boss liked Star Wars.

Ljubica shrugged and put the necklace on. She noticed Johnny didn't have one, and she looked at Ramona.

"Sorry, guess I didn't make enough," Ramona lied.

Ljubica handed hers to Johnny, while keeping her gaze steadily on the priestess. "Better be making another one, then."

Ramona shrugged, leaving the room, and Ljubica frowned.

"She's going to be trouble," Ljubica murmured.

#

Ljubica spent the rest of the morning cleaning what used to be Lin's sword, while Power Symphony's _Army of Saints_ played quietly in the background. The tsuba was circular, and the pale orange color of the Circle. The tsuka was covered in a black same, orange thread woven through it. She wasn't really sure why she cleaned it; she had many blades, from another katana she'd taken from the Ronin to the Nocturne of the Deckers. She even had a Samedi machete.

Johnny walked into her office without knocking. "I got you somethin'" he said, setting a purple saya into the table.

"Thank you," she said absent-mindedly, still running her cloth along the blade. She barely even noticed, lost as she was in thought.

_'Did you hear that asshole Donnie?' Lin asked, crying. 'He said I was his girl...'_

Those were the last words Lin ever said while she was alive.

"Earth to Ljuba," Johnny said. "Come in, Ljuba, do you read me."

Ljubica shook herself from her thoughts, looking up. "What?"

"I got you a saya for your new sword there," he told her.

Ljubica looked down at the curved, purple scabbard, and then up, offering a smile. "Thanks. I was just finishing here."

"Dwelling on that bitch Lin is more like it," Johnny accused, smirking. "I heard how you sounded when I was offering to kill her for you."

"And I saw how seeing Aisha again was fucking you up," she shot back, immediately wishing she could take it back. Her tone was very accusatory, and full of jealousy.

"I ain't apologizin' for that," Johnny told her. "Did you and Lin really..."

"It's none of your damned business, Johnny," Ljubica retorted, growing angrier.

"Fuck, what're we doin'?" Johnny asked, sobering. "Not even twenty four hours after seeing old friends and lovers, and we're at each other's throat."

Ljubica nodded. "Sorry. I am not being fair. I miss Aisha, too, Johnny."

"Lin always gave as good as she got, I do miss that," Johnny offered. "But she's still a raving bitch. Listen, why don't we go spar with our new toys a bit?"

"I studied Kendo and Iaido in college," Ljubica retorted. "I can use a katana."

Johnny laughed. "You never finished college. And you took Japanese sword fighting?"

Ljubica shrugged. "I was needing a physical education credit, and got to beat the shit out of arrogant American boys with a piece of bamboo. What's not to be liking?"

"That was also at _least_ six years ago," Johnny shot back, laughing. "Come on, get your cute ass up outta that chair and come fight with me."

Ljubica grinned. "I think you just like getting your ass kicked by a girl."

#

Johnny grunted as he blocked Ljubica's downward slice, sudden and swift from her high guard. He countered, aiming for her middle, but she neatly danced out of the way, slashing again at his exposed upper body.

Johnny twisted to the side, avoiding the lethal blow, but he was now completely off-balance.

These weren't bamboo shinai or iato practice blades.

Ljubica grinned wickedly, kneeling to set her sword down as she dove at her lover. Johnny let out a playful cry and dropped his own weapon as he fell backwards.

Ljubica kissed him, passionate yet soft. Fighting always left her excited and feeling full of life. Her stomach tensed when his hand caught in her hair, but her trust issues were slowly evaporating every time they were together. They'd agreed to no hair pulling, it was probably an accident. Probably.

She was pushing his legs apart with her knee, when they were interrupted.

"_I ain't interruptin' anything, am I?"_ Zimos sang from the doorway.

Ljubica pushed herself up, laughing faintly, and shook her head as she stood up. "What's up, Z?"

"_Have either of you cats seen Viola?"_ he asked. "_I haven't heard from her in a few days."_

Ljubica furrowed her brow. "I haven't, now that you are mentioning it."

"I ain't seen her," Johnny said. "And I'd remember seein' that one."

Ljubica kicked him playfully in the side.

"If you're truly being worried, have Kinzie check the traffic cameras," Ljubica suggested.

"_That's a good idea,"_ Zimos sang, and left.

Johnny kicked Ljubica's legs out from under her, catching her before she hit the ground. They pressed their noses together, grinning.

"Now, where were we?" Ljubica asked, renewing their embrace.

#

Viola tugged at the chains keeping her pinned against the cold rock wall of the cave. She couldn't remember how long she'd been here, but was sure it wasn't more than a few days. Her only real measurement of time was when some lackey replaced the torch on the wall.

An older woman sauntered into the chamber, hair black with faint streaks of dark grey. She wore a simple black dress that left her arms and shoulders bare, but reached the ground, just barely touching her bare feet. Copper circlets on her upper arms glinted in the flickering light.

"A change of heart, yet?" the woman asked, her voice a smooth contralto. She had a noble bearing to her.

Lin walked in to the chamber. "Mother, there's an entourage of Fallen here to see you."

The Mother nodded. "Thank you, my daughter. I will see them shortly."

Lin bowed her head briefly, and moved to stand near an altar against a nearby wall. It was simple, and lit with twin fat, round orange candles.

Viola had an idea. "I want a concession."

"You're hardly in any position to bargain," the Mother said, chuckling, "but I will indulge you."

"My sister," Viola said quietly. "I want you to find her and bring her back like that one. She's somewhere in Steelport."

The Mother picked a knife up from the altar, and a golden chalice. She slit Lin's wrist open and set the knife aside, wringing her minion's wound over the vessel. Her blood, rich and orange, quickly filled it, and she walked close to Viola.

"I will do as you ask, but you must drink, my child."

Viola looked away.

"You must drink," the Mother urged gently. "Or you get nothing, and then I force you to anyway."

Lin inhaled sharply as Viola took her first sip. She started feeling a similar sense of closeness, like what she felt with Ljubica, and the former grew weaker.

"Mother, stop," Lin said, breathing growing a title faster. "I'm losing the leader of the Saints."

"This one will be more valuable for the time being," Mother informed her, and Viola started drinking greedily.

Lin didn't want that. In a movement so fast she surprised herself, she rushed forward, knocked the chalice away, and shoved the older woman back, knocking her down.

Mother looked incensed, and Lin felt terrified at what she'd just done, but at the same time it was liberating.

"That was a mistake, my daughter," Mother growled, her usual composure strained and on edge. She picked herself up, glowering at Lin.

"Mother, I..." Lin stammered.

"Leave my presence," the older woman said with a frown. "Before I destroy you."

Lin swallowed, nodding. She hurried out, leaving the other two women alone.

Carlos sauntered into the chamber almost as soon as Lin left, as if he'd been been summoned before then.

"Yes, Mother?" he asked, grin cocky. The much-vaunted Lin had looked like a dog with it's tail between it's legs as she hurried out.

"Come, my child," she said, beckoning. She picked up the long knife and chalice. "We have work to do."

#

There was a heavy knock at the door to Purgatory, and then a squealing of tires. Frowning, Ljubica left her office and went to see what was going on. She jerked open the door, eyes widening in horror.

A Saint lay broken and bleeding on the doorstep, body mangled beyond recognition. She could tell it was male, but not who it was from the bloodied, beaten face.

"Fuck," she breathed. "Johnny! Call an ambulance, one of our boys is hurt bad!"

"Boss?" Manny groaned.

Ljubica fought back a sob, and clenched her eyes shut against the tears that threatened. The sight of Manny like this brought memories of Carlos rushing back to her. This time she hadn't even had the chance to save him from the asshole thugs that sought to hurt her through her people.

She'd also had to kill Carlos to put him out of his misery. Rage seared away the sadness, and she welcomed it like an old friend coming for dinner. Stay as long as you like.

"You're not dying on me, Manny!" Ljubica grated, and noticed a note.

'Courtesy of your old buddies,' it read, written in green ink. She crushed it in her fist as Johnny jogged up.

"On it's way," he said. "Fuck, is that...?"

"Manny," Ljubica finished for him, kneeling beside the boy. He was shivering, and she draped her Mamba jacket over his body. It'd be ruined, but she didn't care. She'd buy a thousand of them if it would keep Manny Rodriguez breathing until the paramedics showed up.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

"Who the fuck are our old buddies?" Johnny asked angrily, tossing the note onto the table. "It ain't Lin and friends, Kinzie said the car was green."

Manny was in critical condition at Stilwater Memorial, and Ramona was with him.

"Apparently another group of assholes wanting to be taking my city," Ljubica replied. "They are picking a real bad way of introducing themselves."

"No shit," Johnny growled. "What are we gonna do about it?"

"Long term?" Ljubica asked. "Kill them all."

"And before that?"

"We start taking back territory from these Circle assholes until we know more," Ljubica replied darkly.

#

_Ljubica pulled at her restraints, but they were too tight. The stench of human waste and sweat filled her nostrils, but it hardly made her gag anymore. Her tormentor's faces leered at her, and the knowing look they gave her brought feelings of hatred and shame. One of them reached for her, and she willed herself to wake up, desperate to not live through these ordeals yet again._

_'Now, now, boys, this one's mine first, remember?' Lin said from a corner._

_Ljubica turned her head in horror. No one else had ever been in her nightmares during the seventeen years she'd been having them. 'What the fuck are you doing here? Let me go?'_

_'I don't think so, sweetie,' Lin purred. 'I plan to watch the main event when I'm through with you.'_

_Lin caressed her, almost lovingly, but Ljubica felt the same feelings of revulsion from the woman's touch._

_'Lin, do not be doing this, please,' Ljubica said weakly, hating how she sounded. During these nightmares she never felt like the woman she'd become. She was always regressed to the frightened girl she'd been before she finally snapped and freed herself._

_'Your mind is telling you no,' Lin said with an evil grin. 'But your body's telling you yes, isn't it?'_

_'Fuck. You,' Ljubica grated, loathing the truth in those words._

_Lin smirked. "You know where to find me."_

Ljubica jerked awake, panting. Sweat soaked her sheets and pillow, and the scent of lilacs hung heavy in the air. There was a humiliating wetness between her legs, and she knew, somehow, that that had been no ordinary nightmare.

"Ljuba," Johnny murmured, nuzzling against her side. "You have a bad dream?"

"Lin invaded one of my nightmares, twisting it into something somehow more horrible," Ljubica told him in response, closing her legs tightly.

Johnny opened his eyes, sitting up. "Fuck."

Ljubica nodded, glancing at the clock. It's purple LED display told her it was just after one in the morning.

"Was it her fucking with you?" Johnny asked. "After effects from the other night? Or was it just a bad fuckin' dream about her?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "She talked like she knew what was going to happen normally. She wanted to be staying for the 'main event' as she called it."

"That's fucked up even for her," Johnny said. "I don't remember her being so twisted. Maybe it _was_ just a dream?"

"Gang rape is not a fucking spectator sport," Ljubica growled. She left out the part where Lin had started violating her. It was an old defense mechanism, not telling anyone, and a hard habit to break.

"Here, take my amulet," Johnny said, pulling it over his head and offering it over.

"You need it," Ljubica told him, swinging her legs out to leave the bed,

"Why won't you let me help you?" he asked gently.

"What if Aisha is trying the same thing with you?" Ljubica shot back, wanting to keep Johnny from experiencing a dream like that. But she also didn't want him dreaming of the late-but-resurrected RnB singer period. "Go back to sleep."

Ljubica got out of bed, and Johnny watched her leave the bedroom, his brow furrowed in thought.

#

Manny didn't look nearly as bad as the night they'd found him. He had a lot of cuts and bruises, but with the blood washed away he was recognizable, at least, and in good spirits when Johnny walked in. Ramona was standing next to his bed.

"How you holdin' up, kid?" Johnny asked.

"I've been better, Mr. Gat," Manny replied with a faint chuckle.

"The Boss is on her way right now," Johnny told him. "She's a little slow this morning, didn't sleep too well last night."

Manny nodded. "Her Torch needs an oil change, don't let her drive it."

Johnny laughed. "Well, kid, you better get well soon, I ain't exactly the oil changin' type if you know what I mean."

Manny chuckled.

"Say, Ramona, I need to talk to you for a minute out in the hallway," Johnny said, and walked out of the room.

Ramona followed, closing the door behind her.

"How's the Boss' amulet coming along?" Johnny asked casually.

"I already made it," she replied haughtily.

"She gave it to me, you were supposed to make another one," Johnny said carefully. He thought her knew exactly where this was headed.

"I never said I would make another," Ramona told him. "If she gave hers to a walking corpse, that's her problem. It won't work for you anyway, you're closer to being one of them than one of us."

Johnny frowned. "So this thing is useless for me?"

Ramona nodded. "It only works for the _living."_

"Well thanks for being _so _forthcomin' and shit," Johnny growled, raising a fist. Ljubica turned the corner and was headed their way.

"What's up?" she asked when she reached them.

"Little Miss Helpy Helperton here just told me this thing won't work on me," Johnny rumbled dangerously, pulling the amulet over his head and offering it to her. "Take it."

Ljubica turned to Ramona. "Is true?"

The younger woman nodded.

Ljubica cuffed her ear. "Fucking bitch! Do not be playing games with me, or especially with Johnny!"

Ramona cowered, more stunned and frightened than hurt, but said nothing.

"Don't be keeping shit from me again," Ljubica spat.

The frightened woman nodded.

"Now compose yourself," Ljubica ordered, putting the necklace on. "We're going to be seeing your brother."

Ljubica opened the door and walked in, Johnny and Ramona following close behind.

"Hey, Boss," Manny said as they entered. "Don't drive your Torch, she needs an oil change."

"Fuck the car, what _happened_, Manny?" Ljubica asked, anger and concern dueling for control of her voice "You are looking a lot better, by the way."

"I was out getting a parts order when a bunch of guys in black and green jumped me from behind," he told her. "They took me somewhere, and beat the crap out of me while I was tied up."

"Cowards," Ljubica growled.

Manny nodded. "I couldn't see, it was dark, but some guys were arguing as I lay there afterwards. I don't remember much, but one of them said 'shock and awe wins wars,' or battles, something like that."

Ljubica frowned. "I will be giving these assholes their shock and awe," she said darkly.

#

"_We haven't had to fight off anything military," _Pierce told Ljubica over the phone. "_Just some scrubs left over from the Deckers, but they're all gone, now. Steelport is one hundred percent Saints."_

Ljubica grinned. "Be keeping up the good work, Pierce. How's Shaundi?"

"_She's great, though she keeps complaining about missing Gat."_

"I need Johnny here," Ljubica told him. "Some assholes think they are taking Stilwater away from me."

"_Need some help?"_ he offered. _"We've been recruiting big here."_

"We are handling it, but thank you," she replied. "Listen, I have to be going, now. Talk to you later."

Ljubica hung up as Johnny walked into her office.

"How's Pierce handling things in Steelport?" Johnny asked.

"He has things firmly in the Saints' grasp," she replied. "And Shaundi misses you."

Johnny chuckled. "I miss her, too, but I don't miss the constant nagging. Wish she'd hit the drugs again and mellow the fuck out."

Ljubica smirked. "Keep an eye on things while I'm gone, I'll be back soon."

"Where the fuck you goin'?" Johnny asked suspiciously. They'd been practically connected at the hip since his resurrection.

"A place I go to when I want to think _alone,_" she retorted, reaching for her jacket.

Johnny looked defiant, shaking his head and avoiding her gaze. "What the fuck ever." He sounded hurt, and like he was trying to hide it.

Ljubica walked up to him, and tilted his chin towards her, looking into his eyes. "I will be fine," she promised, and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll have Kinzie keep an eye on me, if anything happens you can be riding to the rescue."

Johnny smirked. "All right, you win. Just don't go gettin' killed or nothin'."

#

Ljubica sat along the edge of the river, staring at the water swirling by. Her jacket was folded up next to her, motorcycle helmet on top, and a light breeze tussled the strands of hair that had come loose from her pony tail.

She also knew Kinzie couldn't spy on her here. The nearest intersection with a camera was two blocks away.

"Penny for your thoughts," Lin said, voice companionable, as she took a seat next to her.

Ljubica didn't move or say anything back.

"Not going to talk to me?" Lin asked.

"You died less than twenty feet from this spot, Lin," Ljubica finally said, voice somber. "I really did kill Sharp for you."

Lin sighed. "I knew you'd get the message. And thanks."

"So that _was_ you in my dream," Ljubica shot back, growing angry.

"We're connected, babe," Lin informed her. "I can enter your dreams any time I want."

"You will be staying the fuck out of them!" Ljubica screamed, turning to look at the other woman, face contorted with rage. "It's none of your business!"

"Relax, _now_," Lin said, tone low and dangerous. Her eyes flashed orange for the briefest of moments. "I can make you relive that hell every single time you close your eyes if I want to."

"Then I better be killing you soon," Ljubica retorted viciously, starting to get up.

She was also reaching for her Shepherd.

"I didn't come here to fight," Lin said, almost regretfully. "And you're stuck with me, I'm afraid."

"What the hell are you wanting, then?" Ljubica asked, voice heated, but she sat back down.

Lin was quiet for a moment. "You."

Ljubica scoffed. "I am not thinking so."

"Join us," Lin urged. "I don't want to have to kill you, but I will. I get stronger every day, and Mother is unreal."

"I don't take ultimatums, I give them," Ljubica replied. "And how are we being _connected?_"

"My death, my blood, my... essence," Lin explained. "I don't really know what I did to you the other day, but I feel you all the time, now."

"Never touch me in my nightmares again," Ljubica warned.

"I thought you liked dead people," Lin replied, smirking.

"I am not a corpse fucker!" Ljubica growled, looking away. "Johnny is _alive_. And _Never_ be touching me like that again, or I will find a way to kill you."

"You can't really stop me," Lin said with a low chuckle. "I can completely keep you from having the nightmares, too, if you ask _real_ nice."

And then Ljubica realized she was alone.

"Shit," she hissed, shivering against a sudden chill and rubbing her arms. "What the fuck is she?"


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Mother looked between her two children. Carlos and Aisha exchanged glances, but remained silent. Water dripped somewhere in the darkness of the dreary chamber they occupied, part of a larger cave and man-made catacomb network beneath the Mourning Woods Cemetery.

"My children," Mother said. "Your sister is becoming ever more disobedient. I want you to keep a close eye on her, she can no longer be trusted."

Carlos and Aisha nodded as one.

"That is all," Mother told them. "Send her in when you leave."

Carlos and Aisha turned as one, and walked out through a dark tunnel. After a minute, Lin entered the cavern from the same tunnel.

"You wished to see me, Mother?" Lin asked.

"Let me see your teeth," Mother stated firmly.

"Mother?" Lin asked, arching an eyebrow.

Mother marched forward and grabbed Lin's mouth with a snarl, forcing it open and twisting her head towards the torchlight. Lin struggled, but the woman's grip was far too strong.

Lin's canines were slightly longer than the rest of her teeth.

Mother shoved Lin violently away, and her servant fell against the cool, rock wall of the cave with a cry. "I _told_ you not to feed from the living. _I_ provide all the sustenance you need, you petulant brat!"

"You starve us!" Lin accused. "The hunger gnaws at all three of us constantly! They're just too afraid of you to do anything about it!"

"Learn some self-discipline!" Mother shot back, raising her voice. Power flowed out of her like the opening flood gates of a dam, slamming into Lin with an invisible force.

Lin cowered against the rush, but then surprised herself by standing her ground. Something within her answered Mother's outburst, and her own wave of raw power crashed into the older woman. It wasn't as strong, and was batted away almost contemptuously, but she didn't know she could do the same things Mother could.

Lin tried again, but nothing happened.

Mother narrowed her eyes. "You dare strike at me," she hissed. "Again, this is why I forbade you drink! You have no idea what you are doing to yourself."

Lin sensed fear in the other woman, though. Not for her daughter, but for herself. She rather liked it.

"Mother, forgive me," Lin said after a moment. "You're right, of course."

Few lied so smoothly.

Mother nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Come to me when you hunger," she told her fledgling. "We will fix this."

Lin nodded, but inwardly she was smirking. She could do things Aisha and Carlos couldn't. All three were stronger than most anyone alive, but of the trio Lin was stronger still.

She liked being on top.

"The Saints are a problem that needs to be dealt with before our plan can come together," Mother stated solemnly. "Quit failing me and bring me their leader's head."

#

Josh Birk frowned into the mirror. He knew he'd been slacking in his duty to the Saints, but didn't know what to do about it until now. The Boss hadn't said anything, but he had a feeling she didn't expect much from him, either, and that left him feeling a little upset. He wanted to prove himself to the Saints.

"And if I do that," he said, "maybe Shaundi will finally take notice."

Josh walked over to his open armoire and began putting on his Nyte Blayde costume. Dark white body armor, armored gloves, pants, and black boots with white armor plates, they began to change how he felt about himself. His self-confidence grew stronger, and when he pulled on his purple cape, instead of the usual red, he knew he'd made the right choice. His voice was dark, sinister, when he spoke, lower and more powerful than his Birk Voice and filled with an intensity he never matched in the real world.

Josh Birk was gone. It was Nyte Blayde talking, now.

"The Circle shall learn to _fear_ that which cannot be destroyed," Nyte Blayde growled, sheathing his twin katanas onto his back. He twirled his matching Kobras like an old western gunslinger before holstering them.

"Nyte Blayde is on the hunt, and _evil_ shall know true _fear!_"

#

Nyte Blayde patrolled the rooftops of Stilwater, looking for trouble. Crouching on the ledge of a low building, he noticed four of Circle members sacrificing what appeared to be a large dog.

Mr. Plays-A-Vampire-On-TV landed soundlessly behind them, carefully drawing his swords. With a cry, he whirled into them like a dervish. As his blades sliced through flesh, two of them fell. He kicked out behind him, moves he'd practiced for hundreds of choreographed fight scenes as Birk coming unbidden to him. Nyte Blayde was a master martial artist, after-all.

The battle was over almost before it had started. He frowned at the dead dog.

"Someone's pet isn't coming _home_ tonight," he growled intensely, and swirled into motion as the gang members started to get up for their second wind. After cutting them down a second time, he waited to see if they'd get up again.

The alley remained eerily silent, and his enemies remained vanquished.

"This is the way of things," he told their bodies, slicing the left ear from each one. "The hero lives on to _fight_, and an evil blight is _removed_ from this _world_."

A Stilwater Police 5-0 pulled into the alley, headlights bright and blinding. The officer blipped his siren.

Nyte Blayde fired a grapple at the building's ledge, and disappeared up into the darkness.

The police officer reached for his radio. "I think some guy dressed as Nyte Blayde just killed a bunch of gang bangers," he said. "Officer requesting back up at…"

#

Ljubica was on the phone when Nyte Blayde entered her office. "I have to be calling you back, Kinzie," she said, and hung up.

"Nice look, Josh," Ljubica said sardonically. "Listen, I nee-…"

"Josh Birk is no more," Nyte Blayde growled. "I… am… _Nyte Blayde!"_

"Right," Ljubica drawled. "Okay, _Nyte Blayde,_ I need you to step up, you've been slacking."

"Do _these_ look like I'm _still_ slacking?" he asked, tossing the bloody ears onto her desk.

Ljubica's eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"They're from Circle gang members," he explained. "And there _will_ be more."

"I approve of your methods," Ljubica told him. "As you were."

Nyte Blayde bowed his head, took his trophies, and left the room.

"Only the left ear, too," Ljubica mused when he was gone. "And people say _I'm_ fucked up."

#

Mother unlocked Viola and stepped away from her, beckoning for Carlos to come forward.

Carlos obediently walked to her, staying silent.

"You feel her?" Mother asked.

Carlos nodded. "Yes, Mother," he replied. "She is mine."

The Mother of the Circle smiled. "And who do you serve, my daughter?"

"You, Mother," Viola said quietly. "And him."

The Mother's grin widened. "Good. Send her back to their hideout."

"What about my sister?" Viola asked.

"All in good time," Mother replied, sly grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. "You have my word, remember?"

#

"Come on, Nyte Blayde, we're going be hitting the Circle," Ljubica said, beckoning to him on her way to the door. Johnny was close behind her, and both had their stolen katanas on their back.

Nyte Blayde looked at her, grinning darkly. "What twisted _scheme_ have you concocted?"

Ljubica grinned. "I'm going to be blowing up an Eye For An Eye with a lot of them in it. I had Ramona announce a special sale."

"You slay the _innocent?_" he asked, frowning.

"Invitation only, just the Circle are being there," she shot back, leaving the door open for him as she left.

#

Ljubica, Johnny, and Nyte Blayde pulled up to the Eye For An Eye in the Arena district in her purple Neuron convertible. The store was a little run down, but still not the oldest of the chain of voodoo shops in Stilwater.

Everyone got out, and Ljubica went to the trunk. Inside were three large duffel bags.

"Take one," she ordered, hefting a heavy bag and heading for the storefront.

Ljubica looked around, and seeing no one this early in the morning, dropped the bag and pulled her Shepherd. She shot out the lock and moved inside.

"So, what's the plan?" Johnny asked, taking in the store. The walls were covered in vials, jars of liquid with body parts in them, packages of dried herbs, and other voodoo paraphernalia.

"First, we are placing these bags all around the place," Ljubica began, sliding her bag under the register. "And when it's full of Circle assholes, Kinzie rigged my phone to blow it up. They will be thinking twice before entering any more stores for supplies."

"I love it," Johnny replied, grinning. "Aside from not gettin' to shoot no one. That part fuckin' sucks."

"Oh, there will be time for shooting," Ljubica told him. "If anyone survives, we are shooting them. Trust me, my plans are always working."

Johnny nodded, but Nyte Blayde frowned.

"This is a _most_ cowardly way to _fight_," he grated. "Where is your _honor?_"

Ljubica walked over to him, and looked up into his eyes. Birk was even taller in his boots. "This is to show the Circle that the Saints will not be taking their shit lying down. Your precious honor is a good way to be getting fucking killed."

Nyte Blayde looked back at her, but didn't say anything more.

Ljubica smirked. "Be putting yours in the back."

Johnny planted his charge near the front of the store while Nyte Blayde walked off.

"What's with him?" Johnny asked.

"I am not having a fucking clue," Ljubica replied, shrugging. "But if it gets him fighting, fuck it. He's definitely being less whiny."

Johnny laughed.

"It is _done,_" Nyte Blayde grumbled, walking back into the shopping area.

"Good boy," Ljubica told him. "Now, let's go wait outside."

#

Hordes of Circle members filled the store, while a few blocks away Ljubica, Johnny, and Nyte Blayde sat in her idling Neuron. The sun was still half an hour from breaking the horizon, and Ljubica slid her finger down her phone's display. The old-style TNT plunger on it moved down with it, and then the store exploded. Fire, glass, wood, and orange-clad gang members flew out onto the street. Some of the Circle were even whole, while the others were mostly charred, ragged body parts. Windows across the street shattered from the force, cars flipped over, and their alarms and horns filled the air.

"_Fuck_ I wish you'd let me do that," Johnny grumbled.

Ljubica grinned. "Maybe next time. Apparently huge explosions kill them the first time."

"Right on," he shot back. "Or they die again by fire."

"The enemy survives!" Nyte Blayde shouted, pointing. Several blocks away, members of the Circle were staggering out of the store. A few of them fell to the ground, but others were trying to make their way to their vehicles.

Ljubica revved up the engine and sped towards the wreckage, back end sliding out for a moment amidst the sound of squealing tires. As they arrived, she jerked the wheel over and slid to a stop. All three Saints hopped out of the car, and Johnny was already shooting targets before his feet hit the ground.

"For Sylvia!" Nyte Blayde cried, drawing his swords and slicing into the nearest Circle member. She tried to scream, but her cry was cut off as her head fell to the sidewalk.

Ljubica shrugged, and started shooting, too. One man took two bullets to the chest before collapsing, and then she smelled lilacs. Something low in her body tightened a bit too pleasantly for her liking.

"Fuck, Johnny be ready!" Ljubica cried. "They're here!"

Lin, Carlos, and Aisha walked around the corner, completely synchronized. Their walk oozed confidence and power, and as one all three drew their swords. Lin took the lead, her siblings at her flank, forming a triangle.

The last of the Circle's rank and file fell for the final time. Johnny and Ljubica drew their swords, and she fell into a chūdan-no-kamae, or middle guard, sword tip pointed at Lin's throat. Both sides came to a stop facing each other, Lin and Ljubica, Johnny and Aisha, and Nyte Blayde and Carlos each facing one another.

"Like what you've done with the place," Lin purred. "Mother's going to be _pissed_ you kill so many of her boys and girls, though."

"That bitch needs to know Stilwater is belonging to the Saints," Ljubica growled. "Now go the fuck home like a good little girl and be telling her that."

"Sorry, pumpkin," Lin told her. "But tonight's the last time you fuck with us."

"Aisha, fight it, I know you can," Johnny urged.

Aisha smirked. "Mother's door is always open, my love. You can still join us."

"Johnny's _mine,_ Aisha," Ljubica all-but-hissed. "Fuck off."

"He still loves me, bitch," the former singer stated smugly. "You know I'm right."

"Enough!" Lin shouted.

Carlos cut open his forearm, eyeing Nyte Blayde as he did so. He licked the blood from his sword, grinning.

Nyte Blayde sniffed at the air. "His blood, it _calls_ to me."

Ljubica rolled her eyes. "You're not being a fucking vampire, Josh."

Carlos was the first to attack. Nyte Blayde growled like an enraged animal, meeting the attack, and their blades crashed together.

Aisha screamed, rushing at Johnny, and he parried her haphazard attack easily.

Lin and Ljubica, however, circled each other warily.

"Kenjutsu," Lin said, smirking. "Nice."

Ljubica shrugged, and thrust forward. Lin moved to the side, and sliced at her opponent. Ljubica twisted her sword just so, and made to cut deep into Lin's shoulder, but she aborted her own attack and both women began to circle again.

"You're fast, _Boss,_" Lin told her. "But not nearly fast enough."

Ljubica felt a searing pain across her middle, and realized Lin wasn't in front of her anymore, and she was cut across the stomach. It was shallow, but blood trickled from the wound. She turned to see Lin behind her.

"I did not see you move," Ljubica breathed.

Lin shrugged. "Mother's worried, too." She attacked again.

Johnny knocked Aisha's sword out of her hands, and it sailed across the street to embed itself in a mailbox. He sheathed his own sword, walking towards her.

"You've lost, now get out of here," he told her.

Aisha pouted. "You found me beautiful once."

Johnny frowned. "Honey, you got real ugly."

Aisha screamed, and threw herself at Johnny. He used her momentum to throw her into a car, where she lay stunned amongst twisted steel and broken glass.

Carlos and Nyte Blayde fought furiously with each other, neither gaining much ground over the other. Carlos was faster, but Birk used his twin swords very effectively, and kept him at bay while launching his own attacks when he had an opening.

"Come on, babe," Lin said, sounding bored. She cut Ljubica's arm. "Hit me!"

Ljubica frowned. She knew Lin was only toying with her, but couldn't figure out why. She anticipated the next attack, barely moving to the side, and managed to slice Lin across the back as she passed, but it barely scratched her armor.

_Is she a sadist, or stalling?_ she wondered. _But at least I can fucking hit her. That means I can kill her._

Lin paused, cocking her head to the side. "Everyone! We're done!"

Carlos kicked Nyte Blayde in the stomach, and hopped onto a Circle Kenshin that was near by. He rode over to Aisha, who hopped on the back seat, and they screamed away from the ruined store. Lin stole another Kenshin, and revved a few times it before shrieking off after them.

"Fuck that," Ljubica growled, sheathing her sword. She wanted to know where they were hiding. She put a leg over another Circle sport bike, and called over her shoulder. "Follow me when you can!"

Ljubica twisted the throttle, popping a wheelie as she went after them.

"The fuck?" Johnny asked, bewildered, watching her depart. "She couldn't wait two fuckin' seconds for me to hop on?"

#

Ljubica rode hard, weaving in and out of the light, early morning traffic. Ahead of her, the Circle Lieutenants tried to lose her, splitting lanes, taking corners at high speed, and even using shortcuts through narrow alleys.

Ljubica kept herself from focusing on Lin's tail light, watching everything instead. It's said that riding a motorcycle takes the reflexes and attention of a fighter pilot, and she gave herself over to the machine and what it could do. It wasn't as fast as her Phantom, but it was nimble, eager to rev, and had speed to spare.

Aisha started firing a submachine gun over her shoulder. Ljubica kept herself out of the spray of bullets, narrowly avoiding a police cruiser that just sat there as the three motorcycles screamed passed.

"Lazy asshole," Ljubica grumbled, whipping between an oncoming garbage truck and a bus on her side of the street.

As they hit the highway, Carlos took the oncoming lanes, and Lin followed. Grinning, Ljubica gleefully pursued, leaning in and out of the oncoming cars and trucks. Morning rush hour hadn't hit, yet, but traffic in Stilwater was definitely getting heavier.

Carlos popped the front end up, using an oncoming Superiore as a ramp to clear a bus and land on the other side of the highway. Lin swerved around the supercar, and Ljubica followed suit.

Lin wove in and out of traffic, each time mere inches from disaster, and Ljubica stuck close. As they exited the highway, Carlos and Aisha cut the Saints' leader off.

Aisha grinned wickedly, pulling the trigger on her Turban.

Ljubica clenched the clutch, revved up, and let the lever snap out while wrapping the throttle around. Her Kenshin reared like a frightened horse, taking the bullets in the belly pan and engine block. Smoke billowed from the damaged motor, but it was still running when the front wheel slammed to the ground.

Aisha squeezed the trigger again, and the gun clicked empty. Screaming in frustration, she threw it at Ljubica, who ducked and leaned out of the way.

The Circle's trio of death lead her through the streets of the Suburbs Expansion area, and soon they were passing through the Mourning Woods Cemetery. Carlos slid to a stop deep inside, and Lin stopped next to him. Ljubica let her stolen Kenshin fall to the ground when she got off of it. It's engine was clanking and sputtering; it was finished anyway.

Ljubica drew her sword as Carlos and Lin advanced. A weaponless Aisha watched, leaning on her own tombstone with her arms crossed.

Lin struck first, a blur of motion, and a shallow cut opened on Ljubica's left thigh.

Carlos blinked. He wasn't nearly that fast. "You should have killed her. Quit playing with her and do it already."

"Shut the fuck up," Lin said dangerously. "She's mine, I get to do her how I want."

Ljubica tightened her grip, and then struck at Carlos while he was distracted, slicing deep across his middle. His insides spilled out of the gaping wound in his belly, and he fell over trying to put them back in.

"You and me, now, bitch," Ljubica growled, adjusting her grip.

"You're not a challenge anymore, sweetie, sorry," Lin replied, sounding bored. "Last chance offered, join us or die."

"I will die before that, Lin," Ljubica replied, shaking her head. "You know I am speaking truth."

Lin sighed, but nodded.

The roaring of a car was heard in the distance. A beat up Bootlegger bounced over the grass, and Johnny was behind the wheel.

Lin just stood there as he ran her over, stopping the heavy muscle car on top of her body.

"So, Boss, how's it going?" Johnny asked casually, leaning out the window with a grin.

"Where's Birk?" Ljubica asked in response, walking over. She noticed that Carlos and Aisha were no longer present. "Fuck. They got away."

"No idea," Johnny replied. "I guess he couldn't keep up."

As Ljubica neared the driver's side, Johnny opened the door, hard, ramming it into her body. She doubled over from the blow, and he got out, upper cutting her. She sailed through the air and crashed into a tombstone.

Johnny winced, gripping his side. "Boss, get the fuck out of here, now!"

A woman in black stood in the distance, and despite the lack of even a breeze her black, grey-streaked hair was whipping as if in a strong wind. A thought entered Johnny's mind.

'_Kill her,'_ it said, a woman's contralto, smooth and velvety.

"Leave!" Johnny shouted, pleading.

Ljubica picked herself up. Her head pounded, and her vision was a little blurry. Johnny was incredibly strong. "I'm not leaving you," she managed.

'_Kill her, _now_,'_ the voice ordered, and Johnny felt pain lance into his side as he resisted.

Ljubica thought Johnny was having an attack, and fished a needle out of her pocket.

Johnny shook his head. "I… h-had my shot today. Somethin' else, now _go_ damn it!"

Ljubica turned her head and saw the woman. She reached for her pistol, but Johnny was there, and he backhanded her, knocking her through the air like a rag doll.

Ljubica landed on her back, breath exploding from her lungs. She was tough, but Johnny was frighteningly strong due to his condition. He used every ounce of strength in his impressive body, and then some. She forced herself to her feet, arms pinwheeling as she nearly fell backwards into an open grave. After steadying herself, she pulled her Shepherd and looked for the woman, but she had just moved behind a mausoleum.

Ljubica aimed at Johnny, who was advancing.

"Fight it, Johnny," she whispered. "Please."

"Tryin' to, believe me," he told her. "Can't much longer, get the fuck out of here or shoot me!"

'_Kill her!'_ the woman screamed in his head, and her power beat at him like an angry swarm of hornets.

Johnny was now right in front of her, and Ljubica started to squeeze the trigger, but couldn't bring herself to shoot his pretty face. His eyes flashed orange for a split second.

Johnny knocked her pistol away, and then shoved her. Ljubica fell into the grave, landing inside an open coffin. It's lining was old and moldy, partially decayed, and the lid slammed shut when she hit.

Ljubica tried to shove against the lid, but it wouldn't budge. Somehow it had wedged closed when it shut her in, and now she was trapped.

Johnny shoveled the first pile of dirt on top of her.

Ljubica heard more and more dirt patter on top of the coffin. She kept telling herself over and over that it wasn't really him doing it, and that when she got out of here she'd find a way to save him. The fear of being confined to such a small, pitch-black space clawed at her insides.

Johnny didn't take long to finish, and as he patted the dirt down, Mother walked up to him.

"Good work, my son," she told him, taking his hand.

Johnny tossed the shovel aside. "Thank you, Mother."

Ljubica screamed one final time, pounding on the underside of the coffin's lid. "Johnny!" But she had to stop, she was getting light headed and out of breath. The arm closest to her cell phone was trapped under her, and she couldn't reach it.

Johnny and Mother walked away, unable to hear Ljubica's screams anyway.

The tombstone at the grave read 'Here lies Aisha, proof that anyone can become someone. She will be missed. 1984-2008.'


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Like a Phoenix being reborn, _we_ shall _rise_ from the ashes of Stilwater and the Saints' failed legacy!" Eddie 'Killbane' Pryor bellowed. He wore his pressed green suit and tie, but no mask. That bitch had taken that from him, and his gang, just like she took so much from everyone around her.

But there was no time for dwelling on the past.

The warehouse full of men and women clad in green and black jumpsuits cheered.

Cyrus Temple watched quietly, standing at parade rest. His heavy armor was black and green, now, and he wore an eyepatch over his left eye. Mounted on his right elbow was a laser cannon similar in design to the ones mounted on the N-Forcers. He'd lost the forearm in the crash.

_So eloquent for a psychotic madman, _the former leader of STAG thought. The Asian man next to him shifted uncomfortably.

Donnie hated the Saints. They'd ruined his life twice now, and gotten the woman he loved killed. The old woman from The Circle had somehow brought her back, he'd seen her at a meeting, but she wasn't the same. She was Lin, but at the same time consumed with something dark, sinister. Taking down the Saints seemed to be her only desire.

"All of you here have had society turn up it's nose to you," Killbane went on. "In one way or another, the _Saints_ have hurt you. I say that time is _over!_ I say we take _back_ what society and those bastards from Third Street took from _us!_"

There was more cheering.

"Now get out there and take this city back from those self-serving despots!"

Killbane grinned as his troops filed out.

"They're not my Luchadores," he said. "But they'll do."

"The Saints wiped _out_ every other gang in Steelport," Temple informed him, moving forward. "The Luchadores died with Angel De La Meurte."

"Angel deserved to die for being a pussy anyway," Eddie growled. "Though I could really use that Miller kid."

"Sir, we're ready to hit their businesses in the south," Donnie said.

"Good," Killbane drawled. "It begins."

#

Everything was very quiet. Ljubica only heard her own shallow breathing, and even that was becoming difficult. Part of her mind was resigned to dying, but the other part, the part that had survived so much, refused to believe it.

Fear wrenched her insides from being confined. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but trapped in a box, the shroud of blackness felt as oppressive as any chains.

She heard a shovel scrape against the top of the coffin, and her hope soared. Surely Johnny had killed that woman, and this was all going to be over, now. She'd even forgive him for decking her.

The coffin's lid was flung open, and it was Lin that stood over her, smirking. She offered her hand.

"The fuck?" Ljubica asked, but took the other woman's hand anyway. It felt cold, but strong.

"No one's allowed to kill you but me," Lin told her, pulling her out.

"Johnny..." Ljubica whispered.

"You should have kept him out of this," Lin informed her, unhelpfully.

Ljubica whirled on her, face contorted with rage. "You think I didn't fucking try! Who are we talking about here!"

Lin put a hand on her hip, unperturbed. "Johnny always was stubborn. And stupid."

"You're all dead," Ljubica promised darkly. "Every last fucking one of you."

"Hey, I just saved your life," Lin retorted, mock-pouting.

Ljubica frowned. "Go to hell, stupid bitch," she hissed, venom dripping from her voice.

"I know you're pissed off right now, okay?" Lin replied. "Meet me in our spot once you've calmed down."

"Why the fuck are you helping me?" Ljubica growled.

Lin shrugged. "I also like being the favorite, and your man might take that spot from me."

Ljubica clenched her jaw, but nodded. "What's to be keeping me from tearing this place apart?"

"Me, of course," Lin replied with a grin.

Ljubica grit her teeth, limping over to stare up into the taller woman's eyes.

"You know I'm coming back for him," she growled.

Lin grinned. "I'm looking forward to it."

Ljubica nodded.

Lin stared off at the horizon for a moment. Wisps of light streaked the sky. Ljubica turn her head, expecting someone to be coming up behind them.

"I have to go," Lin said.

When Ljubica turned back around, the other woman was gone.

#

Ljubica peered into Manny's room. Ramona sat primly in a chair near the bed, and she beckoned to the younger woman with her finger.

Looking curious, Ramona left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

"They took him," Ljubica told her. "They've got Johnny."

"I told you," Ramona said with a shrug. "He's more one of them than one of us."

Ljubica shoved Ramona against the wall by her throat with a snarl. "Johnny's a fucking _Saint_, and that is being more important than _anything_ else you stupid bag of shit!"

"There a problem, ladies?" a security guard asked.

"No problems," Ljubica growled. "Now, be pissing off before I get angry."

Ramona nodded frantically, but was too afraid to speak.

"Let her go, miss," the man said, flipping open his stun gun's holster.

With Ramona pinned with her left hand, Ljubica's right was free to draw her Shepherd from inside her jacket. Without looking, she shot the guard in the forehead, a spray of blood and brains splashing against the opposite wall.

"Now, you will be finding a way to free Johnny," Ljubica told her darkly, pressing her pistol into the voodoo priestess' jaw. People were screaming in the background. "Got it? No more games, Manny's sister or not I will be _fucking_ killing you if you keep playing them."

Ramona nodded, breathing shallow and fast.

Ljubica cocked her head, like a raptor appraising it's prey. Her finger ached to squeeze the trigger, just a little would be all it took to splatter this bitch across the wall, but she restrained herself. She holstered her weapon before letting Ramona go, and stalked out of the hospital.

#

Ljubica sat on the edge of her bed. She had on a pair of purple, plaid pajama bottoms and wore one of Johnny's purple t-shirts. It was almost ridiculously big on her, but his scent was comforting. Her hair hung in her face, but she didn't really care. There was a light knocking on her door, and she looked up.

"Come in," she mumbled.

Oleg worked his way through the doorway, and shut the door behind him.

"_He's gone,_" she said quietly, in Russian.

"_But he is not lost,_" Oleg told her sternly. _"There is a difference."_

Ljubica shook her head in agreement. "_He is not lost._"

"_Why are you not attacking them to get him back?_" he asked.

"_They will be expecting that,_" she replied. "_I need to come up with a better plan._"

"_The Queen, while powerful, must also rely on her Rooks, Bishops, Knights, and even Pawns in order to capture the King,_" Oleg told her. "_She cannot go it alone and hope to achieve victory._"

Ljubica nodded. "_Johnny is the only one that ever liked my plans anyway."_

#

Viola was sitting on the couch downstairs when Zimos and Ljubica entered the living area.

"_Where the hell you been at, girl?"_ Zimos sang, relieved but annoyed. "_You ain't called or nuthin', just disappeared and made ol' Zimos think you found yourself a young stud somewhere."_

"I'm sorry guys," Viola said, before Ljubica could open her mouth. "I had to try and find Kiki one last time."

Ljubica closed her mouth. She'd dropped everything to save Johnny, and wasn't about to chastise the other woman for that.

"_Next time leave a fuckin' note or something,"_ Zimos sang irritably, sitting on the cushion beside her.

"Temptress," Nyte Blayde growled from a corner, nodding in greeting.

"Oh, Jesus," Viola said drolly. "Josh, what the _hell_ are you doing?"

"There _is_ no Josh Birk any _longer_," he explained. "There is onlyNyte Blayde."

Viola looked to Ljubica, who shrugged. "He's being pretty bad ass like this. Whatever works for him."

"Boss!" Kinzie called from the top of the stairs, hurrying down with her laptop. "You've got to see this!"

Kinzie spun her computer around. The screen showed various scenes of carnage all throughout Stilwater. Their stores had been hit hard, dead bodies clad in Saints' purple littered most scenes, along with many corpses wearing green jumpsuits.

"It happened all in a rush today," Kinzie told her. "I just got the feeds."

Ljubica took a deep, cleansing breath. It didn't work, and she hit a glass sculpture next to the couch. It shattered violently, and she turned back to the room, picking glass shards out of her fist while blood dripped onto the floor.

"_I can ask my girls what they been seein',"_ Zimos sang.

"Hit the streets and find out who these assholes in green are," Ljubica ordered, nodding at the pimp.

Zimos nodded back.

"Viola, you, too," Ljubica went on. "Be hitting the bars or something, men will talk to you."

"I didn't get a degree in-..." Viola started, annoyed.

Ljubica cut her off. "Just be fucking doing it and shut up!"

Viola frowned, crossing her arms, but said nothing further.

"Nyte Blayde, be keeping up the pressure on The Circle," Ljubica said to the vigilante.

Nyte Blayde nodded. "My blades shall drink _deeply_ of their blood."

Ljubica looked around the room. "All right, people, we're having a lot of shit to do, so let's be getting to it."

Oleg smiled from the landing above the room.

#

Carlos, Johnny, and Aisha stood before Mother. Johnny was dressed as they were, though he filled his outfit out much more than Carlos. She remained silent for several minutes, looking down at the flickering candles of her altar. Finally, the head of the Circle turned to face them.

"Your sister saved the Saints' leader from an untimely death," Mother said. "Her reasons do not matter, she's disobeyed me at every turn, and it _ends_ tonight."

The trio nodded as one.

Mother's face turned ugly with anger at being betrayed yet again by her wayward daughter.

"_Kill_ her," she hissed.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Lin looked out over the river, lost in thought. Her mind was torn between Mother, and that damned woman in purple. The cool breeze off the water blew her bangs away from her face, but the air smelled faintly of river funk and dirty water. She wrinkled her nose.

"Hey, _sis_," Johnny sneered, behind her. Ire dripped from his voice like wax from a melting candle.

Lin turned to see Johnny, Carlos, and Aisha. Her hackles were raised, though. She hadn't felt them approach, and that couldn't be good. Mother was either masking their connection, or had cut it off without her knowing. Either way, this was trouble.

"Mother has an errand for us?" Lin asked, cautious.

"She has an errand for _us_ all right," Johnny replied.

Lin didn't miss his emphasis.

"So, it's time, then," Lin said, sounding faintly arrogant. She drew her sword, slow and deliberate.

Johnny, Aisha, and Carlos drew their swords in response, in synchronous unity.

"Let's do this," Lin growled, eyes flaring a bright orange. She hissed viciously, teeth bared, and threw herself into the fight.

#

Ljubica woke with a start, breathing heavily. She hadn't been having a nightmare, but she had a feeling of dread all the same now that she was awake. Looking over at the clock, it was just after three in the morning.

Ljubica frowned, tossing and rolling onto her back, trying to go back to sleep.

"Johnny..." she murmured, sighing. The bed felt empty without her favorite pillow.

She lay in bed for almost twenty minutes, but was unable to resume her slumber

#

Lin parried Carlos' strike, ducked under Aisha's sweeping slash, and then leaned back, avoiding Johnny's lunging stab. She felt the rush of air as his blade passed, and let herself fall backwards, tucking into a roll and coming up on her feet.

"You guys are pathetic," Lin jeered, eyes glowing as she drew on her power reserves. "Mother sent scrubs to do her dirty work. She's afraid of me, you know. I can show you _wondrous_ things, you can be free of her, and stronger."

They ignored her words. As the trio renewed their attack, Lin realized she was actually starting to tire. It took nearly everything she had just to avoid their blows, now, and counter attacking was almost impossible. Still, each of them bore at least one kiss from her blade, and she was yet to be touched.

Lin ducked under a slash from Johnny, sweeping her foot out and taking him down. Before she could finish him, though, Carlos and Aisha pushed her back with a flurry of attacks.

#

"Fuck," Ljubica hissed, staring at the ceiling. With a sigh, she got out of bed and headed for the shower, deciding she might as well get up if she couldn't fall back asleep.

#

Lin's eyes widened as Johnny shoved his sword through her body. She grit her teeth, refusing to let her knees buckle.

Johnny grinned wickedly, wrenching the blade sideways before ripping it out of her. "Bitch."

The stricken woman snarled viciously, the glowing of her eyes flaring as she lashed out with her sword.

Carlos let out a bloody gurgle, throat rent open so deeply it nearly severed his head. A gout of orange blood gushed down over his body, and his sword clattered to the ground, hands going to his throat.

Johnny knocked Lin's weapon out of her hands, almost casually. "Fuckin' die already."

Lin glowered at Johnny, ragged strands of hair in her face and eyes full of hate, but then she grinned. Carlos would probably live from her last act of defiance, but she'd gone down fighting, and that was something to be proud of. Her eyes faded to normal; she was spent, nothing left to even heal herself with, and now she was bleeding heavily from the savage wound to her abdomen. All four of them were covered in orange blood, but Lin had been wounded several times, too, before the blow that finally stopped her. Her red blood swirled with the orange, but wouldn't mix with it.

"Tell... Mother..." Lin gasped, forcing herself to talk. She was so tired. "Tell that _bitch_ that I hope she fucking fails. The Boss is gonna kick... her... _ass_."

Johnny, Aisha, and Carlos stabbed Lin through the chest as one, then kicked her still, silent body to the riverbank. Aisha spit at her.

"We're done here," Johnny said, looking to Aisha and offering his elbow. "Come on, babe, let's go celebrate."

Aisha grinned, wrapping her hands around his arm. Carlos followed quietly behind.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Ljubica slowed to a stop near the river, killing her Phantom's power. Side stand down, she got off the motorcycle, pulled her helmet off and headed for her usual spot by the rushing water. She needed to figure things out and since she couldn't sleep, she came here to think.

She noticed a bloody body along the river bank. As she neared it, Ljubica recognized the leather and orange fishnet. One of the Circle's lieutenant's was dead, but the body was too small to be Johnny.

It was Lin. Ljubica's mind kept flashing to visions of Lin dead all those years ago, in the trunk of her car. It hadn't been this messy then. Someone had killed her in a violent, angry way.

Ljubica noticed the red blood. Had she died free?

"Lin..." Ljubica murmured sadly. "Rest in peace."

Lin's eyes fluttered open, and when she coughed, fresh blood spattered her lips. "Dumb asses."

"Fucking shit," Ljubica said in disbelief.

Lin swallowed. "I n-need... your help."

"Fuck you," Ljubica shot back. "Go back to your grave, Lin."

"I... I don't think I can h-heal this," she explained. "Too much damage, blood loss..."

"Then you're fucking dying," Ljubica told her. Part of her didn't like it, but she'd lived without Lin for almost a decade. She was used to it.

Lin sighed, but nodded. "I-it's probably... for the best. Sit... S-sit with me? For old time's sake?"

Every fiber of her being screamed that this was a trap, but Ljubica sat next to her old friend anyway.

Lin smiled in thanks. "Your man's... g-good with a sword. How did Mother take him, anyway?"

"After being stabbed by a Ronin asshole, he took lessons," Ljubica explained, dodging the second question, but then realized Lin had no idea who the Ronin were. "They were a gang that took over Stilwater after Julius blew me the fuck up."

"J-Julius?" Lin asked, closing her eyes. "You were h-his perfect little s-soldier."

Ljubica nodded. "Later he tried telling me it was because I was being too power hungry. The Saints had fulfilled their purpose, and he knew I wouldn't be stepping down. I was in a coma for five fucking years."

"Well, I hope you killed him for it."

"Bullet to the head," Ljubica replied.

Lin's cold hand found Ljubica's. "I'm sorry. F-for everything."

Ljubica shrugged. "You're not really being you anyway. I will be remembering you as you were before dying the first time."

"I still feel... like m-me," Lin told her.

"So you were always hating me?" Ljubica asked, chuckling.

Lin laughed faintly. "No. Mother doesn't have a... a hold on me anymore. Our ties broke when she t-tried to kill me."

"Too bad you're going to be dying, then," Ljubica replied. "I am needing all the help I can get, it seems."

"I don't want to die," Lin said quietly. "She was afraid I could become strong enough to rival her, I could smell her fear whenever I entered the room."

"You're really fucked up," Ljubica replied. "I'd put you out of your misery if guns worked. You take a long time to be dying."

Lin laughed faintly. "Saving your life is what cost me mine, I-I think. The final straw and all that."

"I had your Voxel pulled out of the river," Ljubica said changing the subject.

"My baby," Lin breathed.

Ljubica nodded. "I am keeping it stored someplace safe, fully restored. Purple on white instead of blue on white."

"Why would you... d-do that?" Lin asked, wincing.

"I missed you," Ljubica explained. "A lot. And I was having lots of money, so why not?"

Lin smiled faintly. "Don't let me die?"

"Are you a zombie?" Ljubica asked.

"We're not zombies," Lin replied. "I learned to feed myself without her, and it made me stronger I think. Mother was pissed."

"Well, I can only be bringing back zombies with Tera's serum."

Both women remained silent for several seconds. Ljubica chewed her lower lip, while Lin lay silently next to her.

"You never answered me about Johnny," Lin said finally.

Ljubica glanced at the other woman. "He died recently."

"Who the fuck managed to take out _Gat?_" Lin asked incredulously.

Ljubica chuckled. She knew the sentiment. "He died as a hero, saving Shaundi and me. He sacrificed everything to be getting us out of a bad spot."

"Most of Mother's zombies don't look like Johnny," Lin explained.

"Chance had me finding him as a zombie in Steelport," Ljubica informed her. "I had some people create a cure for the gas that caused the body to rise. But it was not a perfect cure, and she was able to take him."

Silence stretched between them again. Lin coughed.

"Let me feed," Lin said, finally breaking the silence again.

"Sure," Ljubica replied. "Can you be hanging on long enough for Freckle Bitch's? My bike is fast."

Lin laughed, and the scent of lilacs grew stronger. "You haven't changed. But no, I don't need a burger. Something much more delicious."

Ljubica frowned. "Okay?"

Lin beckoned with her finger. "I need you to trust me."

"I am not thinking so," Ljubica told her.

"Remember the kiss in your parking lot?" Lin asked.

Ljubica felt her cheeks coloring. "Fuck that kiss."

Lin managed a grin. "This is better."

"I am not being your play thing, Lin," Ljubica said dangerously. She meant it.

Lin smirked. She'd been wrong, and had been slowly regaining her strength after-all.

Ljubica noticed, too. "Some of your cuts are gone. You are not needing me, I think."

Lin nodded. "But it'll go faster if you help me. They could come back."

"I am not fucking your bloody body by the river," Ljubica said with a laugh.

Lim shook her head. "I didn't mean sex. Why won't you just trust me?"

"You tried to kill me?" Ljubica retorted. "More than once?"

"I also saved your life, and from a very scary fucking death!" Lin shot back.

Ljubica huffed. She didn't like owing people anything, and as a claustrophobic, being buried alive was very high on her list of ways _not_ to die.

"What are you needing me to do?" she asked.

Lin grinned, and Ljubica swore the other woman had dainty, but noticeable fangs instead of typical canines.

"Soon I wouldn't have had to ask permission, so good choice," Lin advised. "And it's better this way, for you."

Lin lunged forward, teeth bared, and bit into Ljubica's neck. As her teeth broke the surface, Ljubica felt pain, but it was washed away so quickly by sheer, raw euphoria that she barely noticed.

When it was over, Ljubica realized she was breathing hard, and her head was laying in Lin's lap. Cool hands stroked her hair. She sat up quickly, hand going to her neck. She realize she'd lost time, but had no idea how much.

There was no wound.

"Neat trick, huh?" Lin asked, looking refreshed and invigorated. Her eyes were a very pale violet in the dark, no longer orange, and flashed purple for a split second.

"A fucking _vampire?_" Ljubica asked incredulously. _"Really?"_

Lin shrugged. "Seems that way."

"Oh, for fuckings sake," Ljubica grumbled. "Josh is going to have fits."

"Wait," Lin began. "That jack ass dressed as Nyte Blayde is actually _Josh Birk?_"

Ljubica chuckled. "Yes. I am not knowing why he decided to do it, but it let him step up. Whatever, as long as he is working."

Lin laughed, a long, loud, but joyous sound. "I can't _wait_ to fuck with him. Can we head home?"

Ljubica frowned. She didn't entirely trust her, yet. "I am not thinking that is a good idea."

"What?" Lin asked, annoyed. "You still don't trust me?"

Ljubica sighed. "Sorry."

Lin's visage darkened. "I could have killed you just now, you know. Part of me _wanted_ to kill you."

Ljubica stood up. "And you are being mad I am not trusting you."

Lin shook her head. "It's not Mother's influence. Something inside me, but I don't let it control me, not anymore."

Ljubica shook her head.

Lin sighed. "Boss, come on, I can watch over the place while you sleep!"

"Don't be calling me that, you are not being a Saint anymore," Ljubica warned.

Lin tore the orange fishnet away from her arms, throwing it into the river. "Fuck the Circle, damn it! They tried to kill me, remember? I can help you take out my siblings!"

"Damn it," Ljubica growled. "Can you do for them what you did for yourself? Can you be freeing them?"

"I offered, but they didn't seem interested."

"Well fuck and shit," Ljubica replied sardonically.

"Tell me about it," Lin said with a chuckle.

Ljubica sighed. "Welcome back to the Saints."

Lin grinned, and walked over to retrieve her sword. "Thanks. Now, take me to my baby."

#

Ljubica stepped onto the landing in the basement of Purgatory. Lin had insisted she stay down here, and had picked out a room. Ljubica found her sitting on a full-size mattress with purple sheets and pillow, and a black blanket. The new-old Saint was wearing a pair of Kinzie's purple pajama bottoms and a black t-shirt, and was finishing up repairing her leather outfit.

"You've been at this all night," Ljubica said, leaning against the door frame. She'd changed into a pair of purple shorts and a black tank top. She noticed every stitch of orange thread had been replaced with purple, and the fishnet sleeves had been replaced with purple, too. It was darker than the bright violet she preferred herself.

Lin nodded. "I already did the sword. I need to sleep, soon, but I'll be up again at sunset."

"You're serious about this vampire shit," Ljubica said. She still didn't quite believe it, despite experiencing it.

Lin chuckled. "You would, too, if you'd been burned by a sunrise.

"I'm going to be hungry when I wake up," Lin informed her. "Fuck, I'm famished, now. I didn't take a whole lot earlier, and most of it went to healing that mess."

Ljubica frowned. Lin looked pretty pale, but had lost her grey pallor almost completely.

"Relax, I'm not going to eat anyone," Lin promised. "Well, anyone here."

"I need to know where to hit the Circle," Ljubica told her.

"Babe, they're all over the catacombs and sewers beneath Stilwater," Lin replied, stretching. She set aside her uniform and lay on the bed.

Ljubica frowned again. "Then I better be treating them like fucking cockroaches."

"Mother doesn't even want your city," Lin said, eyes fluttering closed. Her voice grew distant and she didn't fight the urge to rest. "She just wants you out of the way."

"What the fuck is she wanting, then?" Ljubica asked.

Lin looked peaceful, and rather dead to the world. Her chest didn't move, and no breath could be heard escaping her.

"That's fucking creepy," Ljubica breathed, rubbing her arms. She headed back upstairs.

#

Ljubica sat down across from Josh with a bag from Freckle Bitch's. A muted episode of Nyte Blayde was on the television, and the Saint-cum-vigilante stared at the screen intently, mouthing his part.

Ljubica cast him a glance, smirking, and then tore into her food like a woman possessed. She'd fallen asleep in the afternoon and woken up starving after missing two meals.

The scent of lilacs filled the room, and Lin walked through the main entrance wearing her new uniform.

Nyte Blayde leapt to his feet, drawing both swords and hissing. "The enemy invades us!"

"Calm down before I gut you," Lin growled, low and dangerous.

"Relax, ah, _Nyte Blayde_, she is being invited," Ljubica said, stuffing empty wrappers into the bag.

Nyte Blayde turned to her. "You would bring _evil_ into our _home?"_

Lin rolled her eyes. "I'm a Saint, again. Fuck off."

"My house, my rules," Ljubica agreed.

Nyte Blayde sheathed his swords, but glowered at Lin. "I'm _watching_ you, denizen of the _night._"

Lin added a little extra swing to her hips as she walked into the room, sitting next to Ljubica. "I'll count on it."

"Temptress," he grumbled.

"What's for dinner?" Lin asked companionably.

Ljubica swallowed a mouthful of french fries. "Freckle Bitch's."

"You and that damned restaurant," Lin retorted.

"What were you having?" Ljubica asked, then took a long pull from her straw.

"No one that will be missed," Lin replied, grinning.

Ljubica glanced at Josh. Nyte Blayde glowered back.

"What?" Ljubica asked.

"She gives _in_ to the _Hunger_, how _pathetic,_" he growled, smirking.

"You're not really being a fucking vampire, Josh," Ljubica said with a sigh.

"You know not of what you speak, _mortal,_" he shot back.

Lin watched them banter, a bemused look on her face.

"Oh, for fuckings sake!" Ljubica cried, sitting back and crossing her arms.

"I wonder if I can make him one for real," Lin mused out loud.

"Lin, shut up," Ljubica grumbled. "Please."

Lin quirked a wry smile, but remained silent.

"Nyte Blayde, just go patrol the streets for Circle, okay?" Ljubica ordered.

Without a word, he got up and headed for the exit.

"Do you really want to be flapping your gums about that shit?" Ljubica asked.

Lin laughed. "No, but who's gonna believe him?"

Ljubica shook her head.

"I could help him, you know," Lin said, standing up. "I know their inner workings."

Manny and Ramona walked into the room.

"Hey, Boss," Manny said with a wave, grinning. His left arm was in a sling and he had a cast on his right lower leg.

Ramona stopped, jerking her brother to a stop with her. She was glaring at Lin.

"Why is _she_ here?" Ramona hissed. The air around her started to buzz faintly.

Lin smirked.

"Glad to see you, Manny," Ljubica said, ignoring the other two women. "How long until the cast is coming off?"

"It's not really broken all the way, only for a week or two," Manny told her.

"Good. Now, if you will be excusing me, I need to see your sister and Lin in my office. _Now_, ladies."

Manny nodded. He didn't like Lin being here, either, but he'd learned to trust the Boss.

Ljubica went for her office without looking to see if she was followed.

#

"Why is this _thing_ here?" Ramona asked, closing the door.

Lin sat on the corner of Ljubica's desk, crossing her arms. She glowered at the other woman.

"Your attitude is going to get you into trouble, little girl," Lin growled.

Power flared between the two women, and Ljubica noticed Lin's eyes glowed purple, now, instead of orange.

"Stop whatever the fuck you are doing, _now,_" Ljubica said darkly.

Lin didn't back off until Ramona eased down. Ljubica looked back and forth between the two women before beginning.

"Ramona, can you tell me what she is?" Ljubica asked.

"She is different than the last time I met her," the priestess replied. "She feels stronger, and... other. She's dead, but not like a zombie. She has more power of her own."

Ljubica nodded.

"I never was a fucking zombie," Lin grumbled. "Your witch sucks."

Ramona glared at her.

Ljubica sighed. "I want both of you to be cutting the shit between you. We are having bigger problems."

Lin stared hard at Ramona. "Don't start no shit, there won't be no shit, princess."

Ljubica smirked.

Ramona nodded sharply.

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter," Ljubica barked.

Zimos opened the door. "_Hey, Boss, I got some news on those mutha fuckers in green._"

Ljubica nodded for him to go on.

"_They callin' themselves the Fallen,_" Zimos sang. "_Somethin' about society's downtrodden or some shit."_

"Good work, Z," Ljubica told him. "Any word on where they are hiding?"

"_They seem to be workin' the south side, docks and shit especially. They got a shipment of somethin' comin' in tonight."_

"Then we fucking hit them tonight," Ljubica growled. "They are having to learn the hard way that no one fucks with the Saints."

Zimos chuckled.

Lin stood up. "What are we waiting for?"

"_Who's this?"_ Zimos asked, looking her up and down.

Lin smirked. "Get your eyeful, old man?"

"Lin, meet Zimos, he handles the women," Ljubica said. "Zimos, this is Lin."

"Wait, we have hookers?" Lin asked, staring oddly at Ljubica.

Ljubica sighed. "Yes. It's good money, and the girls can leave whenever they want, I assure you that. They are well taken care of."

"Fine," Lin told her. "So, now that we're all friends, when are we leaving?"

"Ramona is staying here," Ljubica said. "Z, you wanting some action tonight?"

"_I _always_ want some action, baby,"_ Zimos sang.

#

Ljubica, Lin, and Zimos crouched next to a shipping container near a warehouse down at The Docks. Zimos carried an AR-55 cradled in his arms, and Ljubica had her Shepherd drawn. She wore her waist-length Mamba jacket against the chill; the nights were growing colder in Stilwater. Lin hadn't even drawn her sword, yet.

"_Why ain't you got a gun, girl?_" Zimos sang softly.

Lin grinned. "It's more fun this way."

"_I like a girl with a little fire but dayum..._"

"Be quiet," Ljubica whispered. "Why is there being only one asshole here?"

"_Hell if I know,_" Zimos replied. "_Maybe he's early to the party?_"

The 'asshole' turned and faced their direction briefly as he looked around, then turned his attention back to the water.

"Holy shit..." Lin drawled, frowning.

"What is it?" Ljubica asked, furrowing her brow. She couldn't make out any features other than the person was male.

"It's that asshole Donnie," Lin chuckled. "Older, but definitely him. I never noticed him at meetings with these guys, but he's pretty unnoticeable."

"_So nice to have young eyes,_" Zimos sang.

Lin smirked.

"Why is it every time I am having problems with gangs in Stillwater, that mother fucker is always in the middle of it?" Ljubica lamented bitterly, standing up. She started marching towards the lone man in green. His back was turned, and she got very close to him before he heard her approach.

"This color isn't suiting you either!" Ljubica growled, hitting him across the face with her pistol.

Donnie cried out and fell to the ground, landing on his rear and looking terrified. Blood trickled down his face from his forehead.

"Stay down," Ljubica warned, aiming one-handed at his head.

"Fuck, you're always haunting me!" Donnie stammered, scurrying back. He bumped into Lin, and looked up. "Lin! But you're...!"

Lin smirked. "Dead again, _Donnie?_ Things change."

"Donnie," Ljubica said sharply. "Be paying attention to me. We're going to have a little deal, you and I. Or I will be killing you."

"Just like old times," Donnie said with a sigh. "Fuck."

"When will the ship be arriving?" Ljubica asked.

"I don't know."

Ljubica smirked. "Now is not the time for games. _When?_"

"No, I really don't know," Donnie grumbled. "I'm supposed to wait here for it, there was a delay because of a storm out on the lake."

"You're going to be helping us steal it's cargo, then," Ljubica informed him. "Get up."

"Aww, man, not again," Donnie whined, getting to his feet.

Ljubica scooped his NR4 from it's shoulder holster and tossed it into the water.

"Damn it!" Donnie cried. "Those aren't free you know!"

"Who are you with, Donnie, now?" Ljubica asked.

Donnie sighed. "We're calling ourselves the Fallen. Society's downtrodden, and lost in the Saint's shadow and greed."

Ljubica frowned.

"_I see some lights off in the distance,"_ Zimos sang.

"What's with the voice, bro?" Donnie asked. "That's _awesome!_"

Ljubica smirked. "You wait here, like you're supposed to be doing, and the Big Z here will be keeping an eye on you through the scope of a rifle.

"Us three will wait behind a shipping container."

Lin walked up to Donnie, looking into his eyes and smiling lasciviously. She stroked a hand delicately down his cheek. "You'll do that for me, won't you, Donnie? And you'll forget I was ever here. I'm dead, remember?"

Donnie nodded, staring blankly for a moment, then seemed to come back to himself.

"Good boy," Lin purred, and joined the other two Saints.

Ljubica looked at Lin oddly for a moment, but shrugged. Ljubica pulled out her phone.

"Manny, send the boys to The Docks, Pier Seven, and have them be bringing lots of trucks. Any Mules they can find, too."

"_I'm on it, Boss,_" Manny replied, and hung up.

Ljubica pocketed her phone, and worked the slide on her Shepherd. Zimos peered at Donnie through his rifle's scope.

"You don't have to do that," Lin told him. "Donnie will do as I said."

"_When you pull a horse tail outta my ass that's been tlodged here fo' a few years,"_ Zimos sang, "_you can earn the right to tell me what to do, too. But you ain't the Boss right now, little girl."_

Lin grinned. She liked this Zimos guy.

Donnie pulled his phone from a front pocket, flipped it open, and made a call. Zimos started to apply a gentle pressure to the trigger.

"_Boss?_" he asked.

"He's calling in guys to handle the merchandise," Lin told them. "It'd be strange if he _didn't_ call them in, so relax."

Ljubica nodded at Zimos, and he eased down.

Green and black Mules began arriving, their chorus of beeps as they backed onto the dock piercing the night. Men and women in green and black jumpsuits piled out of each truck, milling around while waiting to get to work. A large, burly manned headed over to a crane.

Ljubica counted ten trucks, and sent Manny a quick text to keep him up to date. She had no idea what a Mule's volume was, but trusted her Lieutenant to figure it out. Manny was sharp.

Donnie was shouting orders as the crane started lowering the first container onto the dock. "Odd number trucks, you're on weapons, even is drugs!"

Ljubica grinned. They were going to make a killing off this one.

The last container was settled onto the docks for unloading long before the first one was finished being transferred to a truck,

"Go!" Ljubica whispered loudly, moving out from behind cover and opening fire on the crane's pilot house. Glass shattered and blood sprayed across the inside.

Zimos stepped out and fired, continuous five-round bursts ripping through the gang members on the ground.

Lin drew her sword and rushed forward, moving past the others and slicing into the nearest Fallen. Their screams joined the clattering idle of the trucks, and the cries of their brothers and sisters was raised in alarm.

Donnie yelled a quick "Shit!" before diving under the closest Mule.

Ljubica dropped her empty magazine and reloaded, grinning as she killed yet another of the Fallen. It felt good to kill people that stayed down like they were supposed to.

Zimos loaded a fresh magazine into his AR, resuming his methodical one burst take downs.

Everything was suddenly quiet aside from the idling trucks. Ljubica breathed a little heavier, and thumbed the magazine release. The empty mag clattered to the ground, and she reloaded.

Lin was nearby, covered in blood, with a wild look in her bright purple eyes.

"Lin?" Ljubica asked, walking over to her.

"Fine," Lin growled, but her voice was shaky, breathy, even slightly other-worldly. "I can handle it..."

Lin ran a finger through the blood and licked it off, shuddering.

"Aww, man, what the fuck..." Donnie groaned. He'd already crawled out from under is hiding spot.

"Later," Ljubica warned. Saints were arriving in purple Criminals, a few Mags, and even four Mules showed up. "Let's get this shit loaded."

Lin was gone when Ljubica turned around to supervise the loading. She shrugged.

Manny hobbled over from a Criminal, leaning heavily on a crutch when he arrived. "I got your message, Boss, this should cover it."

"I knew I could be counting on you, Manny," Ljubica replied, grinning. "It is good to have you back."

"Where's Mr. Gat?" he asked, looking around.

Sadness passed across Ljubica's face, but it was quickly replaced with something dark, so dark that Manny took an involuntary step backwards. Even Zimos stopped a few extra feet away.

"They took him," Ljubica grated, clenching her jaw.

"We'll get him back," Manny said gently. "I've never met anyone like you, if anyone can do it, you can."

Ljubica offered him a faint smile.

The last of the trucks were loaded, and they had room to spare, so no one had to walk home or steal another vehicle.

"Be keeping in touch, Donnie," Ljubica said, pulling herself up into the back of a Mule. She gave him a mock salute as it pulled away, leaving him alone.

"Fuck my life," Donnie groaned.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lin didn't show up until the next night. Ljubica's hair was still damp from her bath, and she was just pulling on a pair of violet skinny jeans when she heard her outer bedroom door close.

The scent of lilacs danced gently in the air.

She was at her downtown penthouse, wanting to be away from people tonight. Still, there was a small party going on in the living room, thrumming bass bleeding through the walls.

"I'm not decent!" Ljubica called, walking back into her closet.

Cool hands gently encircled her waist from behind, finger tips brushing skin ever-so-gently. Despite the charge that threatened her knees, Ljubica went very still. Her breathing grew faint, pulse racing ahead.

"You're never decent," Lin purred, nuzzling her neck.

Ljubica elbowed her in the stomach, pulling away.

"_Don't _be grabbing me from behind like that," Ljubica warned. "And Johnny will be coming back."

Lin chuckled.

"How did you even know I was here, and not at Purgatory?" Ljubica asked.

Lin shrugged. "I just know. It's a feeling, like how I knew where you were buried."

"I can't be complaining about _that_," Ljubica replied. "Now, be getting out and let me get dressed."

Lin mock-pouted. "But you're so much cuter when you're mostly naked and blushing."

Ljubica rolled her eyes, but felt her cheeks coloring. "Fuck off."

Lin's laughter followed her into the other room.

Ljubica pulled on a black woman's t-shirt and stepped into a pair of black tennis shoes, quickly lacing the purple laces up. She put her hair up into a messy bun, and was easing her violet hair sticks in as she went into the bedroom.

"Why did you disappear last night?" she asked.

Lin was sitting on the edge of the bed, and looked away, embarrassed. "I couldn't handle it after all."

"Explain," Ljubica ordered gently.

"There was so much blood," Lin murmured, slightly husky voice low. "It... set me off. I didn't want to stop, I _couldn't_ stop."

"I understand," Ljubica told her, nodding. She knew how hard it was to stop killing once she started.

Lin smirked. "It was a lot like being drunk, and then it was like an animal took over, and I killed a lot more people after I left. I would have attacked the Saints."

_Okay, so I don't know after-all_, Ljubica thought. Out loud, she said, "So, how am I killing this Mother bitch?"

"I don't think _I_ could take her at my best," Lin replied, shaking her head. "She's a _lot_ stronger than me."

"What the fuck is she?" Ljubica asked heatedly. "And don't be saying a fucking vampire."

Lin shrugged. "You got me."

Ljubica frowned. "Well fuck and shit. I guess I will be finding out if she can be blown the fuck up, then."

"You'll kill all three of them, too, just to kill her?" Lin asked, standing. She walked over to stand before the Saints' leader.

Ljubica shook her head, grinning. "Nope. You will be the distraction to be keeping them occupied."

Lin grinned. "I owe them one."

"Just don't kill them, okay?" Ljubica shot back, plucking her amulet from her dresser and slipping it on.

Lin winced. "What the fuck is that, take it off!"

Ljubica blinked, turning to Lin and arching her brow. "I am always wearing purple and black. Every day."

"The damned necklace!" Lin growled, gesturing blindly.

"What's being wrong with it?" Ljubica asked, voice quizzical. "I've worn it around you before."

"Fuck, I don't know!" Lin replied, actually whining. "You didn't have it on the other night!"

Lin was right, Ljubica had forgotten it in her haste to leave. She pulled the necklace off, and the other woman visibly relaxed.

"Better?" she asked.

Lin nodded. "I think we're connected by a stronger bond, now. Shit."

"And this is meaning...?"

"Mother tracks you with that thing, too," Lin pointed out, dodging the question.

Ljubica frowned. "Come the fuck _on_, Ramona."

As if on que, an explosion rocked the penthouse, and the music stopped. There was a metallic popping sound, and the sprinklers overhead started pouring water down on them.

"For fuckings sake," Ljubica said with a sigh. She snatched her Shepherd from the night stand and worked the slide.

#

The main living area was a scene of utter chaos. The penthouse was on fire, flames gorging themselves on the expensive decorations and racing across the walls and ceilings. Saints everywhere fought for their lives, taken completely by surprise.

Circle were everywhere, one of their darts embedding itself in the wall next to Ljubica's head with a solid thunk.

Ljubica fired into the first one she saw get back up.

"Be killing them twice, comrades!" she cried, in case anyone here was new. They'd been recruiting a lot in preparation for a major turf war.

A vaporous form materialized behind Ljubica.

"Boss!" Lin cried, pushing the Russian woman out of the way. Ljubica fell against the loft railing, nearly flipping over it.

The assassin's blade sunk into Lin's stomach, then it ripped the weapon free with a ghostly wail. Blood glutted out onto the floor, and Lin snarled viciously.

Ljubica turned around to see Lin decapitate the creature, kicking it's lifeless body into a wall of flame.

Ljubica rushed over as Lin stumbled.

"Lin!"

Lin shook her head, looking pained and clutching her middle. "I'll be fine. Just longer to heal. Get our people out of here."

Ljubica studied her face for a moment, then nodded and turned back to the fight. Her magazine was quickly emptied, and she reloaded automatically, picking off any Circle that got back up.

A section of room gave way, sending up a shower of sparks and debris. Lin was cut off from the rest of the penthouse.

"Lin!" Ljubica cried, coughing. The smoke was getting thick.

"Go!" Lin shouted. "I'll be fine!"

Ljubica nodded, vaulting over the railing and landing on a couch below that was mercifully not engulfed in flames yet. Her Saints were finishing up with the remaining Circle, and she smiled in satisfaction.

"Come on, boys and girls, it is time for us to be going!" she shouted.

Ljubica made sure every one of her people was in the stairwell before heading back to the burning apartment. The smoke and flames were thick, keeping her from entering too far inside.

"Lin!" she called.

There was no answer.

"Fuck! _Lin!_"

A crash sounded from deep inside the residency, and the loft collapsed onto the lower level.

Ljubica was just about to rush inside when someone grabbed her arm.

"Boss!" the male Saint cried. He wore jeans and a purple football jersey. "Boss, no one's alive in here! Come on!"

Ljubica jerked her arm free, but reluctantly followed him out. She cast one last glance at the penthouse before following her people down the stairs.

#

Fire erupted from several windows of the penthouse above. Ljubica stood in the street with her people as fire fighters rushed up to battle the blaze before it took out the whole building.

"So much for sprinklers," Ljubica muttered. "Lin..."

Glass shattered above, and several Saints cried out, avoiding the raining shards the a glittered and sparkled as they tumbled to the street.

Lin landed in a kneeling crouch among them, hair a little singed and face smudged with soot. No one seemed to notice but Ljubica.

Ljubica shoved her way through the crowd pulling the other woman into a hug.

"You crazy stupid bitch!" she shouted happily.

Lin took Ljubica's face in both hands and kissed her, soft but filled with yearning. Ljubica wanted to pull away, but couldn't bring herself to do it, instead closing her eyes and enjoying the moment. It was different from kissing Johnny, but wonderful in its own way. Then what she was doing really hit her, and shame started to erode away the mounting passion.

Ljubica pushed Lin away, gently, when the male Saints, and some of the females, started cheering and clapping. A few of them glared at her, though.

"What was that for?" Ljubica breathed. She decided to chalk up returning the kiss to just being caught up in the moment.

Lin shrugged. "In case I never got the chance again. Don't worry, I won't steal you from Gat. Well, probably not. Okay, only maybe."

Lin nodded, smirking. She could still taste Lin on her lips, and briefly wondered what it would have been like if Lin had never died back then.

"So, _Boss_," a police officer said derisively, walking up and interrupting her thoughts. "Someone drop a blunt?"

Ljubica narrowed her eyes, studying his badge for a moment. It read 'Officer Pinkerton.'

"No, Officer_ Oinkerton_," she shot back. "Some assholes tried to kill us."

"Uh huh," he replied, pretending to write something down on his notepad. They both knew this wouldn't be investigated, at least for her behalf. "Thank you for your time, _ma'am_."

Ljubica's hand ached to go for her Shepherd. It must have been moving, because Lin restrained her wrist.

"So not worth it," Lin advised.

Ljubica didn't immediately pull her hand free, but nodded. "Fuck."

"Yes?" Lin asked.

Ljubica rolled her eyes. "Well, you wont be having to worry anymore about the necklace. It was in my bedroom."

Lin shrugged. "You're better off without it anyway. You have me to keep you safe, now."

"Come on," Ljubica began, heading for the parking garage. "We're hitting the Circle back for this _tonight_."

#

Ljubica pulled a heavy black satchel from the trunk of her Neuron. She handed Lin a Krukov before closing the lid. The Mourning Woods Cemetery was dark and silent.

"Just be keeping them off of me while I plant some explosives," she said. "K8, it is new model from what you are being used to."

Lin nodded, checking the rifle approvingly. "I'm sure I'm still a good shot."

Ljubica walked to the first entrance to the catacombs, near a mausoleum, and planted the first of two charges. Nobody came it to greet her, so she made her way over to the second entrance, in the southwest corner of the grounds. Humming a merry little tune to herself, she planted another two charges and headed back towards Lin.

"Where is everyone?" Ljubica asked. She'd counted on some kind of resistance, even if it was only the rank and file.

"You got me," Lin replied. "You're really about to blow up part of a cemetery?"

Ljubica shrugged, flipped the switch on the detonator to 'Sync' and clicked the button she'd labeled 'MTFT' with masking tape and a sharpie.

Explosions rocked the cemetery. Clods of earth, sod, dust, and chunks of stone were flung out from each entrance as they collapsed on themselves, sealing the Circle within.

"There are other ways out," Lin informed her.

Ljubica nodded. "But now they can't be using the cemetery as a staging ground."

"And they know you won't stand them attacking you lying down," Lin replied.

Ljubica grinned. "I knew I was always liking you for a reason."


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lin sat across from Nyte Blayde in Purgatory's living area, staring at the vigilante. He stared right back at her, demeanor brooding.

"I think I can finish the role for you, Josh," Lin told him. "Make you Nyte Blayde for real."

She'd be considering ways to make more like her for awhile, now.

"Be silent, temptress," Nyte Blade growled.

Lin grinned. If she didn't have Johnny's skin to get under, this guy seemed a fine substitute. She got up and stalked over to him, walk oozing the confidence of an apex predator, with a touch of sensual temptation, and sat down next to him.

"Don't be like that," she purred, gently placing her hands on his shoulders.

Nyte Blade shrugged her off. "_Don't_ touch me, _foul_ creature."

Lin was still laughing when Ljubica walked into the room. "Am I missing something?"

"Vampire boy here is too much fun," Lin said, giggles trailing off.

"_Bitch_," Nyte Blayde growled.

Lin laughed again, but kept their bodies touching as she sat back on the couch.

"Relax, Nyte Blayde," Ljubica advised. Lin had a flighty mood at best, and calling her a bitch usually wasn't the best course of action. "Once we are getting Johnny back, she'll forget _all_ about fucking with you."

"Well, maybe not _all_ about," Lin added with a grin.

Ljubica let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Anyway," she went on. "Have either of you two been seeing Viola? I need to ask her about the numbers..."

Ljubica trailed off when she saw the look of surprise on Lin's face.

"Lin, tell me you didn't..."

Lin shook her head. "It's not that. Fuck, I'm so sorry I forgot."

"Forgot _what?_" Ljubica urged.

"Viola is a spy for Mother," Lin stated bluntly.

Ljubica clenched her fists, a corner of her mouth twitching. Her voice was grating with fury when she finally found it. _"How many more of my people are belonging to that bitch?"_

"Just her and Johnny that I know of," Lin replied.

Ljubica nodded, and this time the deep, cleansing breath worked. "We can use her for feeding false information to the Circle."

"There's something you should know," Lin said carefully. "Maybe we should head to your office..."

"Speak," Ljubica ordered. "Now."

"Your girl came to us," Lin told her.

Nyte Blayde growled under his breath. "Traitorous _whore_."

"She didn't _fuck_ anyone," Lin growled back. "Bitch, cunt, even just traitor would suffice, but you went with whore, you-…"

"Enough!" Ljubica barked, cutting her off, and both Lieutenants looked to her.

"So Viola is dead," Ljubica said quietly. She'd tried hard to trust the former Morning Star, for Zimos' sake, and this is the repayment she got for saving the woman's life.

"If it means anything, she said it was for her sister," Lin added. "Mother is supposed to help her find her sister's body."

"Fuck," Ljubica said. "I told her we would be helping Kiki if we found the body. I have some people looking, but Eddie hid it pretty damned good."

"No way Mother is going to keep her end of the deal, though she probably could do it," Lin said. "She's going to kill Viola when she's done."

"Sister be damned, she betrayed the Saints, and there is being only one sentence for that crime," Ljubica said darkly.

#

Ljubica sat at her desk, alone, head resting between her hands. She was conflicted.

"So do I fucking kill her or use her and then kill her?" she asked the quiet room.

The room, of course, offered no answer. Someone did knock on the door, though, and she sighed.

"Come in."

Zimos entered the room. "_Boss, you got a minute?"_

Ljubica nodded.

"_It's Viola,"_ the pimp sang. "_She been actin' weird, if you know what I'm sayin'…"_

Ljubica nodded. "I do. She betrayed us to the Circle, Z. I'm sorry."

Zimos was quiet for a few moments, looking thoughtful. "_I'll do it,"_ he finally sang. The auto tune effect happened to add a somber tone, or maybe it was just how devastated the news made him feel. There was no need for an explanation of what 'it' referred to. He knew the sentence prescribed for betrayal when it came to the streets.

Ljubica nodded, decision made. "Thank you, Z. If it's too hard, I can be doing it."

Zimos shook his head. "_I'll make it quick, and you might not._"

"It was to be a bullet," Ljubica told him, subconsciously tracing one of the scars on her face. "I am not being a fan of slow torture with a blade."

Zimos noticed the gesture, but only nodded and left the room.

#

Zimos knocked on the door to Viola's apartment in Ultor's new vision of Saints Row.

Viola opened the door partially, wearing a white bathrobe, dark hair down around her shoulders. "Hey."

"_All you got to say is 'hey'?"_ Zimos asked. "_Open that door up, sugar, and let a little Z-shine in yo' life."_

Viola smirked, but undid the chain keeping the door from opening all the way. Zimos walked in and made himself comfortable on the couch. The furniture was all modern and minimal in design, but there was no sleek flat panel on any of the walls. Viola didn't watch much TV.

"_You doin' okay?"_ Zimos asked. "_Somethin' ain't right about you."_

He'd considered just shooting her immediately, so she wouldn't even know that anyone knew, but in the end decided she had the right to at least explain.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Viola replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

_He suspects something, shit,_ Viola thought.

'_Kill him,_' Carlos told her mind. '_If you're exposed, Kiki will be lost forever.'_

Viola sat down next to her man, putting a hand on his leg. "I'm fine, promise."

"_I know you been seein' someone else,_" Zimos sang.

"You... You think I'm cheating on you!" Viola exclaimed. She was almost relieved.

"_Someone in the Circle,"_ Zimos clarified.

'_Kill him, now!'_ Carlos screamed, so loud it made her wince. '_Kill him or Kiki is gone!'_

"No!" Viola cried, shaking her head against the rush of pain flaring within.

"_I know the truth, baby, you can't deny it to ol' Z._"

"It's not like that," Viola lied, getting up to stand by a window. She looked out over Stilwater. "I was going to make them think I was helping and then they'd find Kiki..."

_I'm not killing him, Carlos. Let me handle this my way._

"_I haven't gone to the Boss with it, yet,"_ Zimos lied. "_I wanted to talk to you first. Tell me what happened, honey."_

'_You'll never find Kiki, now,'_ Carlos gloated. _'But good luck.'_

"After seeing those people at Purgatory, the ones with swords and leather, I thought maybe I could use the Circle to find Kiki's body," Viola explained. "Their price was betrayal and information, so I've been feeding them false information."

It was a good lie, as lies went.

'_Quick thinking,' _Carlos told her. _'I like that in a woman._'

Viola shuddered inwardly.

Zimos nodded. "_Let's say I believe you._"

Viola smiled. "_I knew you would, I'm sorry for not telling you._"

"_You can't keep shit like this from me, girl,"_ Zimos sang. _"I came here to kill you, and was gonna just do it quick and quiet so you wouldn't suffer, or even know. Just lights out."_

Viola swallowed, nodding. "Thanks, Z."

"_No prob, honey. Now get that sweet ass over here."_

"You're an old pervert, you know that, right?" Viola scolded, but walked over to him anyway.

#

"_I believe her,_" Zimos sang over the phone. Ljubica sat in the passenger seat of Lin's Voxel. It was near midnight on a weekend, and the streets were full of cars.

"She didn't try to fuck you, did she?" Ljubica asked warily. Viola wasn't one to use feminine wiles, but the Saints' leader didn't trust her anymore in the least.

"_Not 'til afterwards,"_ Zimos replied, chuckling. "_I love me some makeup lovin'."_

"I am trusting you, Z, do not be letting me down," Ljubica grumbled, and hung up, slipping her phone into the front pocket of her jeans.

"I know what I saw," Lin told her, cutting a sweeping line through traffic, speeding around a cluster of cars.

"I am believing you, but my gut is telling me there's something more to things, now," Ljubica replied.

"It was almost me she was bound to," Lin said quickly, swerving around a bus.

"Almost?"

Lin nodded, rev-matching with a quick double clutch as she whipped around a corner. "I still got it.

"Anyway, yeah. I felt my bond with you slipping, and so my first act of defiance against Mother was born."

Lin chuckled. "I thought she was going to kill me for spilling all that blood."

"Why are you giving a shit about this bond so much?" Ljubica asked.

Lin was quiet for several moments, slowing down to match speed with traffic before replying.

"I'm a monster, hon," she said. "And monsters don't have feelings. This thing with you, it's all I've got."

"You're not a monster," Ljubica said gently.

"You don't know the things I've done, or want to do," Lin shot back.

"I am certainly being a monster with you, then," Ljubica retorted, grinning. "The papers say that a lot, 'monster.' In Steelport I was called the Stilwater Butcher."

Lin downshifted three gears, her Voxel's engine screaming towards the redline in a duet with the turbo. She swerved around a slow-moving truck, cutting them off to the honks of several nearby drivers. She cackled gleefully.

"Stilwater Butcher, I like it."

"I killed a lot of assholes to take this city, for Julius, and for myself after waking up," Ljubica said.

"So, your girl gets to live," Lin said, bringing them back on topic, and it sounded vaguely accusatory.

"For now," Ljubica retorted. "She could be being a useful tool."

Lin wove her way through a tight pack of cars and trucks, accelerating hard. She didn't want to get pissed off, and so changed the subject again to something more fun.

"Can I play with Donnie when we're done with him?" she asked.

"Fuck if I am caring," Ljubica replied. "The fucking pussy is lucky I haven't killed him already."

Lin laughed, then frowned abruptly when forced to slow down rapidly for a traffic jam ahead.

"Shit," she grumbled. "Ruin my fun why don't you."

Lin revved impatiently, waiting for the road to clear. She hated traffic jams more than almost any other first world problem.

Ljubica chuckled, pulling her Shepherd and rolling down the window. She leaned out and started firing indiscriminately at the cars ahead. Tires squealed and cars ran into each other as the panicked drivers fought to get out of the way by any path they could. Cars drove up onto the sidewalk and ran into newspaper stands and both women laughed joyously at the sight.

"Thanks," Lin quipped, shoving her Voxel into gear. The launch pinned both women against their seats as the heavily modded car raced forward again.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ljubica's phone beeped, but when she looked at it, there were no text message indicators. This was the fourth time that had happened today.

"Piece of shit," Ljubica growled, and dialed Kinzie.

"_What do you need, Boss?"_ Kinzie asked irritably. "_I'm _trying_ to launder our money for the day."_

"Kinzie, why is my phone beeping for no fucking reason?" Ljubica growled. "I am about to be breaking it."

Kinzie let out a long-suffering sigh.

"_Have you checked your email?" _she asked.

"How the fuck do you check email from a phone?" Ljubica asked carefully.

"_Sweet Jesus,"_ Kinzie grumbled. "_Press the Applications icon, then the _Mail _icon._"

The line went dead. Shrugging, Ljubica did as she'd been told, and saw she had nearly four hundred emails waiting to be read.

"Fuck and shit," she breathed, starting with the latest one. It was from Pierce, and the subject read 'Steelport update,' so it seemed important at least.

'_Dear Boss. Just letting you know that we've got busses running again, taxi service from several companies, and even a few airlines have returned to the airport. We've got construction crews fixing the rail system day and night, and expect it to be up and running within a month or two. The people of the city seem to be pretty happy with the Saints fixing their town. How's Gat and everyone?'_

Ljubica closed her eyes for a moment, shoving down the sadness and anger that threatened to overwhelm her. Opening her eyes, she managed to find the reply button, but the tiny keyboard that slid up from the bottom of the screen put her off.

"That is fucking ridiculous," she chuckled, and seeing a little phone picture next to Pierce's name, touched it instead. Her phone dialed the lieutenant's so she put it to her ear.

"Pierce, it's me," she said as he picked up. "Good job on the city, and fuck this little ass keyboard."

Pierce laughed. "_I should have known better than to email you._"

"Johnny's been brainwashed by these assholes," she told him.

"_No way, Gat!_" Pierce half-shouted.

"He buried me alive, Pierce," Ljubica replied, swallowing hard. "I think it is being pretty safe to say he isn't being himself."

"_Or you had one _hell_ of a lover's spat,_ Pierce retorted, chuckling. "_How many people do you need?"_

"We can handle it," she shot back irritably. "I was only calling so I didn't have to fuck with email on this phone."

"_Well, you _could_ turn your computer on once in a while_," Pierce chided.

"Pierce?" Ljubica asked.

"_Yeah, Boss?"_

"Fuck off, but do be keeping up the good work in Steelport."

Pierce was laughing as she hung up.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Nyte Blayde crouched in the shadow of a rooftop air conditioning unit. He knew someone was following him, just not who. But he would.

Drawing his swords, he rushed around the corner, roaring in challenge.

Lin smirked back at him, hands on her hips and katana still sheathed. She'd added a pair of blued 45 Shepherds in thigh holsters on each leg, and a D4TH Blossom was slung over a shoulder.

"You!" Nyte Blayde growled. "Do _not_ follow me on _patrol_."

"I came to help you, you ungrateful bastard," Lin shot back, crossing her arms.

"We _cannot_ stand here in the open and _chat_," he growled, sheathing his weapons.

Lin sighed heatedly and took his hand, and leading him back into the shadow. She crouched down, dragging him with her.

"All better, sweetie?" she asked sarcastically.

The vigilante jerked his hand away. "Do not touch me, _creature._"

"Words hurt," she replied, smirking. "Look, I know where a major Circle hideout is. Interested?"

"What about the Boss?" he questioned.

"What about her?" Lin retorted. "She's still asleep, and I'm letting her. She doesn't sleep near enough and needs the rest."

Nyte Blayde nodded. "Then we shall go _forth_ to_ battle!_"

Lin grinned.

#

Lin and Nyte Blayde walked softly along a tunnel beneath Stilwater's High End Retail shopping district. It was dark, and dingy, but much cleaner than the sewers elsewhere in the city. There weren't even rats down here. Apparently Stilwater's elite did their best to make sure there was 'proof' that their shit didn't stink.

Lin had no trouble seeing where they were going, but Josh wore a small set of night vision goggles that she thought made him look like a douche.

Ahead, dim light filtered into the blackness, and Lin put a hand on his wrist.

"Wait," she said quietly. "We're here. Let me go first."

Nyte Blayde nodded curtly.

Lin crept forward, cautiously peering around the corner. A sizable group of Circle milled about a large chamber. She counted eighteen of them, and swung her SMG around to the front.

"Hello, boys and girls," Lin said, stepping into the light.

With an evil grin, she opened fire, moving deeper into the chamber as armor-piercing rounds tore through the Circle and embedded themselves in the stonework. Blood and other things splashed thick on the walls.

Nyte Blayde rushed around the corner, twin Kobras drawn, and began firing.

In his haste to join the action, he forgot about the two gang members that rose behind him. He was grabbed from behind and quickly disarmed.

At the abrupt silencing of his weapons, Lin turned, hissing viciously at the sight.

"Let him go," she spat.

They slit Josh Birk's throat without a second thought. Lin sprayed them both with bullets before the actor fell to the ground, gurgling.

Lin was forced to ignore him as she fended off the remainder of the Circle that began to rise, slowly working her way in his direction. Her weapon clicked empty, and she slung it behind her and pulled both Shepherds, finishing the job.

"Josh!" Lin screamed, kneeling beside him. "Don't you fucking die on me! She'll never trust me!"

Josh Birk's head moved limply from side to side, blood having run red and strong down his chest.

Lin tried her little trick with licking the wound, like when she bit someone, but it wasn't working on something so large.

After just a taste, she growled, low and animalistic, and dove in to feed. A dim part of her mind felt shame at being so weak to resist, but the part in charge relished the kill, sating it's hunger.

Lin finally managed to pull herself away, gasping loudly while blood slicked her chin and upper chest.

"Fuck," she giggled. Suddenly Josh being dead didn't matter so much.

But then the thought of those purple eyes burrowing into her, casting her out on her own or trying to kill her, that thought sobered her and she turned her attention to the body next to her.

"What the hell did that bitch Mother do for us?" Lin grumbled. "Fuck, I don't have much left to lose..."

Lin peeled off a glove and bit her wrist open, rivulets of blood running down her arm, and held the wound to Birk's lips.

Blood flowed back out of his mouth.

"Fuck, come _on_," Lin urged. "This is about the only damned thing she did for us that I can do for you, too. It works in the movies!"

Josh finally swallowed once. Then twice. Then his hands came up, gripping her arm painfully as he drank of her, little suckling and slurping sounds filling the chamber.

"Oh, thank God," Lin breathed. Soon alarms started going off in her head, telling her he's taking too much, and she wrenched herself free of the actor-cum-vigilante-cum-vampire.

"More," he croaked, reaching for her. His neck looked healed through the blood.

Lin stood, backing away. The skin of her wrist was already smooth and flawless.

"You've had enough," she told him. "I don't have any more."

Josh looked like he might cry, but nodded and stood up. Then he doubled over, crying out sharply.

"So much for that!" Lin cried, rushing over to him. "Damn it, hold on!"

Lin drug a retching Josh through the tunnels and back to the streets above. She pushed him up first, climbing up to the alley after him.

Josh vomited blood all over the sidewalk.

Lin mimicked the Boss. "Well fuck and shit."

She picked Josh up, heaving him onto her shoulder and clambering up onto a fire escape. More blood erupted from his mouth, and she could feel the heat it had taken from his body running down her back and legs through the leather.

"Gross!" Lin whined, then wrinkled her nose. "Oh my fucking God you shit yourself! I'm trying to get you to the fucking hospital without drawing the attention of the police, and you shit your pants!"

Lin set him down roughly on the rooftop, and groaned as another scent tickled her nose. "You pissed on me you worthless-...!"

Lin's rant trailed off as she realized Josh was dead. Again. She sighed.

"Well, I tried," she reasoned. "I'll just leave your body, they can't pin this shit on me. Sorry Josh."

Nyte Blayde opened his eyes. He gasped as he took in his surroundings, everything was in stark contrast and high detail. Lin stood over him, covered in blood and black like some goddess of death, and he scurried away.

"Hey, it's okay," Lin urged gently. "Relax, man, I think I saved your life."

"You're so beautiful," he breathed, but wasn't really paying her much attention. He was looking everywhere.

Lin smirked, then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, how's everything looking? Shiny and awesome?"

Josh nodded. "That's a great way to describe it."

"Holy shit," Lin whispered, feeling giddy. "I can't believe this worked!"

"What?" he asked, cautious.

"I made you Nyte Blayde for real!"

Josh coughed, covering his mouth. "Oh, what reeks...?"

"You're ah, body decided to empty itself when you died," Lin replied. "Isn't death _dignifying?_"

"Wait, I died!" he cried, finally coming to his feet. "But I feel more alive than ever!"

Lin nodded, grinning. "It's wonderful."

Josh cleared his throat, and it was Nyte Blayde that spoke when he opened his mouth.

"_Evil_ shall know _true fear!_" he growled, and his eyes flashed purple. The swell of power he felt faded almost immediately.

"Hey, cool, your eyes turned purple for a second," Lin said. "I wonder if mine do that, now? They used to be orange."

Lin pulled on her power reserves, and leveled her gaze at Nyte Blayde. "Well?"

He nodded, shying away a little. "Purple."

"Sweet!" Lin cheered, then composed herself and eased off. She was low on juice, apparently this took a lot out of her.

After a moment's thought, she grinned. "One or two more like you, and I think we can take out the Circle's Lieutenants."


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lin watched Ljubica sleep. She looked so peaceful, so serene as she lay there, not a care in the world or a bother to worry her for once. Lin smiled faintly.

Ljubica tossed, brow furrowing. She gasped, lips moving but no sound coming. Then she thrashed, gritting her teeth.

Lin closed her eyes, seeking their connection. She trickled just a little bit of love down that conduit, something soothing and comforting, and Ljubica stilled, smiling again.

"Rest easy, Boss," Lin whispered, stopping her hand from stroking the other woman's cheek. The backs of her fingers hovered the barest millimeter from flesh, but then she pulled back.

"Yeah, you're not the headstrong, uncertain girl I fell for anymore, but..." she murmured, then added, bitterly, "You probably got over me a long time ago, anyway. I was dead what, eight years? But it seems like only a few weeks to me."

Lin headed for the door, casting a final look over her shoulder. Ljubica muttered something that sounded like 'Johnny' and rolled over.

"Gat better take _real_ good care of you," she growled quietly, closing the door behind her.

#

Ljubica knocked on Kinzie's office door. The redhead had called her shortly after waking up and said she had something important to show her.

Ljubica opened the door after hearing nothing. Kinzie was completely engrossed in something on her computer.

"Earth to Kinzie," Ljubica sang, shutting the door behind her. "What's up?"

Kinzie yelped and peered over the top of the monitor, her usually disheveled hair even more out of place.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry, yeah, I called you..." she stammered quickly.

"Uh huh," Ljubica drawled. "Care to be telling me why?"

"Come see this, I caught an interesting video off a traffic cam in the High End Retail area."

Ljubica walked around to the other side of the desk and crossed her arms, and Kinzie clicked the play button with her mouse.

"It was dark, so the quality really sucked, and the angle was bad, but I managed to clean it up some," Kinzie explained.

The video was a little grainy, but a woman that was obviously Lin was carrying a limp Josh Birk over her shoulder in an alley, and she easily climbed up onto a fire escape despite the load. Something dark spewed from his mouth and all over the back of her body, and then they disappeared from view.

Ljubica shrugged. "Lin has been offering to help Josh in fucking up the Circle. Is he dead?"

Kinzie sighed. "That's not all. I found a police report this morning about blood found in an alley, the same alley that camera could see."

"Make it go away," Ljubica advised irritably. It was obvious, to her at least.

"Hello?" Kinzie asked, annoyed. "I _did,_ but what I was _trying_ to say was that the blood they found isn't Birk's type."

"But we just saw..." Ljubica trailed off.

"Yeah, why was he coughing up someone else's blood?" Kinzie asked for her. "This is so gross."

"I'll be catching you later, Kinzie," Ljubica said, striding purposefully for the door.

"Hey, don't leave me in the dark!" Kinzie called, but the door had already shut.

#

Ljubica waited just outside Lin's room. Saints could be heard sparring at the Range, but Lin insisted it never interrupted her sleep.

As soon as the door opened, Ljubica barged in and slammed it shut behind her.

"Hey, Lin, how's it going?" she asked heatedly, staring hard up into the woman's eyes.

Lin was wearing black running pants, white stripe up the sides, a purple t-shirt, and white sneakers.

"Move," she growled. "Hungry."

"What the fuck happened to Josh?" Ljubica asked, undeterred. "The police found blood in an alley behind a ritzy shopping mall, and I saw you carrying Josh away."

Lin froze. "Shit. Boss, I'm sorry, he-..."

"You will be shutting the fuck up, now, and listening to me _very_ carefully," Ljubica interrupted, pushing forward.

Lin nodded. She wanted to tell her off, but knew she'd fucked up bad.

"Good girl," Ljubica growled. "Kinzie took care of it, but this is not happening again, am I being clear enough for you, Lin?"

Lin nodded again.

"What did you fucking do to him?" Ljubica asked angrily, remembering all the teasing the larger woman had given the actor. "The blood type he spit up was not being his own!"

Lin looked away. She'd _really _fucked this one up.

"We were taking out a Circle cell, and he got hurt," she said quietly. "Hurt real bad. I thought if I let him die you wouldn't trust me anymore."

"The irony is staggering," Ljubica spat. "Because I am feeling like I cannot be trusting you, _now!_"

Lin sagged. "He's alive, just so you know."

"That's real good, Lin," Ljubica grumbled, anger finally cooling. "But I'm not upset about him being hurt, well, that is not being _all_ of it."

Lin peered at the smaller woman curiously.

"You almost exposed yourself," Ljubica went on. "Kinzie is _really_ curious, but doesn't know anything yet, and I want it to stay that way. Pierce told me she's _very_ interested in you for some reason, and I don't want her to be digging anymore since you are not being in the ground somewhere."

"Kinzie?" Lin asked. "The little mousey redhead?"

Ljubica nodded. "She's smart, and will probably figure it out eventually _without_ your screw ups."

"It won't happen again," Lin promised, trying to move past. "But can I go, now? I need to eat... and help Josh with something."

"Lin?" Ljubica said, blocking the larger woman's path. "Leave Kinzie alone, are you understanding me?"

Lin growled in frustration. She could toss the Boss around like a doll if she wanted to, but wasn't willing to hurt her over this.

"I will!" she cried. "Just get out of my damned way before I move you!"

Ljubica smirked, and stepped aside. Lin was gone in a rush, and the Saints' leader followed at a much more leisurely pace. She had other work to do.

#

Ljubica dropped to the floor of the dark warehouse, landing quietly on the balls of her feet. She wore her motorcycle leathers and boots, hair pulled back into a quick pony tail. The propped open window above her shed what little moonlight it could into the blackness, and she made her way towards the office she knew Donnie had to be in. She'd followed him here after-all.

And he was, talking on the phone and looking over several papers attached to a clipboard. As soon as he hung up, Ljubica stood up, and put a finger to her lips.

Donnie was groaning as she opened the door.

"What now?" he whined.

"We have a date tonight, _sweetie_, don't you remember?" Ljubica told him, chuckling. "Let's go."

"You should have called, I'd have gotten you flowers," Donnie quipped.

Ljubica smirked. "Take me to your gang's headquarters."

"You _are_ insane," Donnie insisted, shaking his head, and then looked at something over her shoulder.

Ljubica dropped to the ground instinctively just as the glass windows shattered all around them. Donnie was cut in several places but otherwise miraculously unharmed.

"You set me up!" Ljubica growled. "Bad fucking choice!"

Donnie shrugged. "I saw you following me on the way here. I'm tired of you screwing with my life."

Ljubica was about to take his legs out from under him when a flash bang clattered to the cement floor nearby. She turned away as it went off, a wave of heat washing over her neck. Her hearing was muffled, ringing, but she saw several men entering the room with assault rifles, already raising them to fire.

Ljubica leapt up and dove through the office's large window, rolling as she landed and coming to her feet in a run. Gunfire followed her, bullets whistling past and chewing up pallets of electronics.

Turning and drawing her Shepherd, Ljubica fired three shots into the office and took out one of the men. She quickly holstered her pistol as she neared the window, and glancing around, saw her path up.

Ljubica vaulted herself up onto a large, waist-high box, ran several steps, and leapt onto the face of a tall crate, pushing up with her legs in order to grab the top lip and pull herself on top of it. She ran at the wall, jumping toward it, and as her feet touched, she pushed up and back, turning in the air to jump back towards the stack of heavy boxes, grabbing the edge and pulling herself up.

Men were shouting below, and taking shots at her as Ljubica positioned herself as far back as as she could, and sprinted for the window. She flung herself towards it, arms and legs flailing as she crossed the distance, and her fingertips managed to snag the lip of the window. With a grunt, she hoisted herself up and through the opening.

The propped open window shattered as missed shots went through it, and Ljubica grabbed a rain gutter and pulled herself onto it, climbing for the roof.

#

Ljubica looked around to see if anyone was up here with her. Seeing no one, she jogged towards the other side, where her Phantom waited below.

An arm shot out from behind an AC unit as Ljubica passed, clothes-lining her. She fell hard on the gravel, sliding a few feet before turning and looking for her assailant, lip curled in a snarl.

"'Sup, _Boss?_" Carlos asked, sneering.

Ljubica pushed herself to her feet, cursing under her breath in Russian.

_I really need to start bringing my sword along with me when I go running off alone,_ she thought angrily.

"Yeah, I don't think we're gonna have much time to play before the hit squad gets here," he told her. "I'm mad, too."

"Carlos," Ljubica growled, rubbing her throat. "Not now."

"Oh, now is good, I think," he replied, moving forward.

"Damn it, why are you not even fighting this?" Ljubica asked bitterly. "This... this _thing,_ it's not being you!"

Carlos shrugged. "This is me, now."

"You told me you loved me, Carlos," Ljubica tried, voice gentle. "Tell me you don't feel that still?"

Carlos' face contorted, anger and sorrow fighting before anger gained control. His voice was bitter when he spoke. "Tell me, do you always try to fuck your lieutenants?"

Ljubica felt like she'd been slapped.

"You know not what you are talking about," she growled.

"I did love you, _niña_," Carlos retorted, gritting his teeth. "And when I poured my heart out to you, you turned me away!"

Ljubica looked away, a cold wind tussling her hair. "I had my reasons, there are things you are not knowing about that made it... too hard to deal with."

"Lin told me _all_ about it," Carlos said, grinning darkly. "Before we killed her."

This time, Ljubica felt like her insides had been twisted savagely.

"Yes," Carlos hissed, nodding at the look of horror in her eyes. "I know all about your dreams, _niña._"

Anger flared, washing everything else away before it's wrath. "Then you are knowing my reasons," Ljubica spat.

"I'd have been gentle, _niña_," Carlos murmured, almost bitter with regret. The mood swing took her off guard. "All I ever wanted was for you to be safe and happy."

Ljubica felt her eyes misting. A little bit of the old, sweet Carlos she remembered was peeking through the dark clouds of the twisted incarnation that stood before her. Was she getting through to him? He kept calling her _nina_, like he used to.

"Leave Mother, then," Ljubica urged gently. "Come back to me, _niño_."

Carlos smiled faintly. "You remembered."

Ljubica offered him a faint smile of her own. "I made killing that bitch Jessica a priority after..."

A gunshot sounded below, and a loud hiss announced that one of her bike's tires had been shot out. Several men were heard talking, voices unintelligible.

Ljubica sighed. "Nothing is ever being fucking easy."

"Get out of here," Carlos said quietly, refusing to look at her. "I'll tell them you got away."

"Thank you," Ljubica told him. She had no idea why, but was grateful.

Carlos nodded, walking towards the edge of the roof. He stopped, casting a somber look over his shoulder.

"I really did love you, you know," he said.

Ljubica nodded. "For what it is being worth, if I'd been able to work through my shit, maybe..."

Carlos smirked. "Yeah, but we know how it worked out. Everyone you love dies. I think you're cursed or something, _niña._"

He jumped over the side.

"Fuck," Ljubica a breathed, zipping her jacket up tighter against the wind that was picking up.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ljubica sat alone on the edge of her bed. The top drawer of her nightstand was open, and she held a necklace in her hand. At the end of it's chain were two figurines, male and female. Carlos had given it to her years ago, shyly explaining it away as nothing more than a friendly gesture, though she'd learned the truth eventually.

There was a knock at her door, and she quickly wrapped the necklace back up in it's purple skullcap, tucking it safely away in her nightstand and closing the drawer.

Lin entered Ljubica's bedroom without knocking again, wearing her leather uniform.

"I interrupting something?" she asked carefully.

Ljubica shook her head. "Old memories."

"Where we're you the earlier tonight?" Lin asked suspiciously, though she knew the answer. She wanted to see what the Boss said. "The news said a warehouse in Shivington was shot up, and I know Manny made a vehicle pickup in that part of town."

Ljubica nodded. "Shivington."

"And _why_ we're you out wrecking shop without me?

Ljubica smirked. "I can handle myself Lin, I am being a big girl. And you were busy with Josh."

"You never take your sword with you," Lin accused. "What if one of them shows up?"

They both knew who 'they' were.

"I did run into Carlos," Ljubica admitted.

Lin grinned. "Well, you're obviously still alive. Did you kick his ass?"

Ljubica smiled. "I think I am getting through to him instead."

Lin frowned, ignoring the jealousy that took root. "You can't trust him."

"So I am not to be giving him a chance, like the one I am giving you?" Ljubica retorted.

Lin sighed, shaking her head. "It's not the same, he's still tied to Mother."

Ljubica nodded. "But I saw part of his old self pierce the armor of her... her whatever. He's in there, and that means Aisha is in there, too. And Johnny."

Ljubica swallowed after saying that. Johnny freely admitted that he still loved Aisha, and freeing her meant there'd be another woman that wanted Johnny Gat.

And another woman that he loved.

"And what happens when she and Johnny pick up where they left off?" Lin asked, as if she was reading the other woman's mind.

Ljubica closed her eyes. "Then I will fucking be dealing with it, Lin. Johnny is a grown man that can be making his own fucking decisions."

"So you'd let him go, just like that," Lin replied quietly, but strongly.

"Fuck and shit," Ljubica grumbled. "You can not be forcing love onto people. If he chooses her, I will be happy for him. Sad for me, but happy for him, because love is not always about what is being best for you. I remember that much, Lin."

Lin could taste the bitterness in those words, but shrugged, leaving it alone. She'd be happy for Johnny and Aisha, too, but for a very different reason. That reason was sitting on her bed looking oddly vulnerable right now.

"Hey," Lin said, sitting next to Ljubica and leaning their shoulders together. "Chin up. We'll get him back."

"It is not being that," Ljubica murmured, shaking her head. "Johnny does still love her. He told me."

"Shit," Lin replied gently. "What the fuck is _wrong_ with him?"

Ljubica chuckled. "I am not blaming him, she died when they were still being very much in love."

Lin cast a glance at her, chewing her lip for a moment before deciding against saying what was really on her mind. "That really sucks."

"I need to kill someone," Ljubica grumbled, standing up. "Let's go ask Kinzie where some of these Fallen assholes are hiding."

Lin grinned. "I knew my girl was under that mopey exterior somewhere."

#

Ljubica leaned out the window of Lin's Voxel, spraying another magazine worth of bullets from her D4TH Blossom. Men and women in green jumpsuits did a lot of running, dodging, and dying. Especially the dying. The Boss did like a good drive by.

Lin jerked the handbrake at the end of the alley, whipping the wheel around and lining up for another pass.

"Can we do it again?" she asked quickly, sounding eager and almost child-like.

Ljubica dropped the empty magazine into the floorboard and shoved a fresh one home, racking the bolt back and loading a round. "Let's go get dirty up close."

Lin grinned, killing the ignition. Both women got out of her car and rushed the Fallen warehouse Kinzie had found for them.

Ljubica grinned wickedly as she marched among the green gang members like the Horseman of Death, killing anyone that moved. She fell into an easy rhythm with Lin, as the other woman would move across her field of fire to strike someone close, Ljubica would ease off the trigger and find a new target. The ladies danced their deadly ballet until no one remained.

"Every fight ends this way," Ljubica said, sounding bored. "But hey, what were they loading into these trucks for us?"

Before they could have a look, engines were heard racing in the distance, loud, but growing louder. Police sirens soon joined them.

"More blood," Lin murmured drunkenly. "Goody."

"Lin, are you still being with me?" Ljubica asked. She noticed the other woman's mouth and chin were covered in blood. Lin hadn't even drawn her sword.

Lin giggled. "I'm all yours, Boss."

Shaking her head, Ljubica pulled a grenade from her jacket. She undid the laces of her left boot and opened one of the crates, peering inside. During the war she'd learned to improvise all sorts of fun traps.

"Explosives? Fuck yes!" Ljubica cheered. Lady Luck was with her on this one.

Ljubica set the grenade inside carefully, tying the lace off so that when the lid was opened too much, it would pull the pin. Satisfied, she jogged towards Lin's car.

"Come on, can you be driving?" she asked.

Lin nodded, grinning lopsidedly.

Shrugging, Ljubica got in the passenger seat as Lin was starting the engine. She backed into a dark alley, windshield facing the warehouse.

Fallen arrived first, black and green Criminals screeching to a halt as men and women jumped out. Windows down, Lin and Ljubica could hear loud cursing.

As a man hopped up into the truck with Ljubica's trap, the Saints' leader leaned forward, eagerly anticipating the carnage to follow.

Police cruisers slid to a stop behind the building, and the cops took a knee behind their doors, shouting orders at the gang members.

The explosion collapsed the entire back wall of the building. A fireball erupted high into the sky, the heat being felt a block away. The windshield to Lin's Voxel spiderwebbed, but held, and Ljubica laughed gleefully.

"Fuck yes!" she shouted. "Be getting us out of here!"

Lin grinned, pushing the gear shift into reverse. "Yes, ma'am!"

The tires barked once as Lin shot the Voxel backwards, but the all-wheel-drive kept the powerful motor in check. She spun the wheel, spinning into the street easily and aiming the car down the road as she put it into first. The Voxel surged ahead, and the two Saints sped off into the night.


	17. Chapter 17

_AN: The first two scenes are just a little fun, mostly to show some of my favorite Saints Row fan fiction stories. The 1st one is the Boss from shadow182angel's amazing (mostly) 1st-person stories. #2 is the boss from SnuggleXPuff's excellent Some Exceptions Can Be Made. #3 is Mercedes Lucario from DoubleH19's wonderful The Story of a Third Street Saint. #4 is the Viola from cactusx33's very fun read, War of the Saints. I just caught myself wondering if one of them was ever to make it to the top =) The last one is actually based on what eventually became Saints Row - Salvation ;-) It was almost Kinzie instead of Johnny o.O Anyway, hope you enjoy!_

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ljubica's phone beeped at her. Grumbling, she paused Bobby and Amber and picked it up off the coffee table. She was wearing purple track pants and a black tank top.

'_I've got something amazing (and very important) to show you! Come to my Inner Sanctum! - Kinz'_

Ljubica sighed. She sent back _'It had better be or you're dead.'_ She was getting better at using the little screen keyboard, but still wasn't overly fond of it.

#

Ljubica strolled into the section of Old Stilwater beneath Purgatory that Kinzie called home. It had been reinforced and fortified against attack, but still didn't look like much. Finding the door to what Kinzie called her 'Inner Sanctum' she punched in her code and strode through the sliding metal door. It slammed shut behind her.

"Kinzie?" Ljubica called. Servers hummed nearby, and Ljubica rubbed her arms against the chill. She wished she'd brought a jacket, the violet t-shirt she wore was hardly enough.

"Back here!" Kinzie sang, sounding giddy.

Ljubica made her way into the next room, which felt blessedly warm by comparison. The Saints' hacker sat at a desk behind her laptop, but oddly enough she wasn't typing. She was just staring.

Ljubica noticed a box connected to her laptop by a cable, and several cables snaked across the floor to another room, and the server room.

"Kinzie, what's going on?" she asked, now curious.

"Boss, you won't believe what I've discovered!" the redhead gushed.

"I won't be knowing until you are telling me, Kinz!" Ljubica grumbled, walking around to the other side of the desk. There was a pretty fair-skinned woman on the screen, black hair pulled into a pony tail. Her eyes was the palest of blues, and she wore purple. Purple skinny jeans and a black t-shirt.

And she was shooting at a lot of people, bodies lay about her everywhere.

"New recruit?" Ljubica asked, angry. "You pulled me down here to see a video of a new recruit? I do like her style, though. She's in, after having her ass beat, of course."

"That's you," Kinzie stated, sounding quite pleased with herself. Smug even.

"Um, no Kinzie," Ljubica disagreed. "While I am having black hair and pale skin, she does not have freckles, and is much prettier, I am thinking. And her eyes are blue."

"It's not literally you," Kinzie explained. "It's the Boss from another dimension."

"What the fuck are you talking about nerd-girl?" Ljubica asked warily. "That shit is not being real. Right? Fucking Twilight Zone."

Kinzie sighed. "You know you love my smarts. Anyway, dimensions are other places, some like this, some not, and they're all populated with versions of ourselves. I've figured out a way to contact these other dimensions, spy on them. I'm way ahead of the government on this research."

"So how can we be using this?" Ljubica asked.

Kinzie tapped away at her keyboard, and the image switched to a man driving a Bootlegger recklessly through the streets of Steelport.

"That one likes me," Kinzie told her, blushing. "As in, wants to jump the bones of that dimension's Kinzie likes me."

Ljubica smirked. "Give me a flying air fortress and we will be talking."

Kinzie switched the display again, ignoring the burning in her cheeks. A woman with short, black, purple-tinged hair seemed to be staring at them, eyes solid black pits of darkness.

"The fuck…" Ljubica breathed. She'd seen the option at Image By Design, but actually seeing it on someone, the effect was creepy as fuck. She liked it.

"She's a real ah, pistol, Boss," Kinzie said, tapping away at the keys again. This time Viola showed up on the screen.

"The fuck?" Ljubica asked. "Over how many of my dead bodies did that bitch bury to get to the head of the Saints?"

"In that universe, Viola betrays everything and starts a civil war, throwing you in jail to seize power."

Ljubica frowned. "That bitch."

Kinzie wasn't finished, chucking as she typed away. The display morphed and showed Ljubica and Kinzie making out, very hot and heavy, in front of a paused display of Bobby and Amber.

Ljubica cleared her throat. "_That_ one is looking very much like me."

Kinzie chewed her lower lip, blushing. "Yeah. She's Russian, too, actually."

Ljubica raised an eyebrow quizzically.

Kinzie's blush deepened, her cheeks coloring darkly. "Yeah. Um… yeah. She's named Andjela, though."

Ljubica chuckled. "Angel in Serbian."

Her mother was Serbian.

"I'm also working on a way to bring people over to our dimension," Kinzie added in a rush.

Ljubica looked at Kinzie like she'd grown a second head. "Come again?"

"I can't do it just yet, but I'm working on it. If one of you is so impressive at taking down rivals, imagine how quickly a group of you would be?"

Ljubica shook her head. "No fucking way, that is not happening."

"Why not?" Kinzie whined, pouting.

"Two reasons. One, if what you say is true, their Saints need them, and I will not be taking anything from the Saints of _any_ place. And two, I am being Queen Bitch of this house, and am not sharing it with anyone. You are getting me, Kinzie, yes?"

Kinzie nodded sullenly. "I got you."

"I am having a question, though," Ljubica said thoughtfully, sitting on the edge of the desk. "In the dimensions, Lin, Carlos, and Aisha, are they always dying?"

Kinzie nodded. "I'd say in 95% of them, yeah, they're dead. And even less of them have them resurrected in any way."

Ljubica closed her eyes, and her voice was quiet when she spoke again. "And Johnny?"

Kinzie shook her head. "It's hard to say. In some, he's dead. In some, his body is never found nor is there even a zombie. I know of one where he turned on the Saints. In the first Boss I showed you, he survived the plane crash and was held by Loren. In some others, he's with you, usually earlier than this one. In others, it's someone else in the gang, often Aisha, obviously, but sometimes he's gay, too."

"I see," Ljubica said carefully. She hadn't asked about the last part, about who Johnny loved, but Kinzie was sharp. How she figured out all the rest was _well_ beyond her.

"I found one where you're dead, actually killed by the yacht explosion," Kinzie added. "The Saints of that universe are run by your niece, a girl named Angel."

Ljubica smirked. "That would require me to be capable of having offspring, which I am not."

Kinzie looked puzzled, then grinned. "I didn't actually know that about you!"

Ljubica groaned, and actually looked away from the mousey redhead. "I had an… accident a long time ago," she said carefully.

Kinzie noted the hesitation, and body language, but wisely said nothing. She knew something bad had happened, but that was about it. Apparently it was something bad. Really bad.

"Is there anything else?" Ljubica asked.

Kinzie shook her head, looking sullen.

Ljubica nodded, and lifted the hacker's chin to face her. "You did good work, Kinz. Amazing in-fact. Just don't be bringing any of them here, okay? Their Saints need them, too."

Kinzie nodded, but there was a defiant glint in her eye. "Fine."

#

Kinzie's little science experiment had unsettled Ljubica. She would need to keep a close eye on the former FBI agent. The redhead seemed to know a lot about these other worlds, too much for her own good, even. She also seemed to be acting like a school girl about the Ones that liked their world's Kinzie.

Ljubica's phone beeped from her pocket, announcing a text message and disrupting her. Grumbling, she pulled it out.

'_Meet me at the old steel mill in an hour. Come alone. - Johnny'_

Ljubica, snarled, deleting the text message and throwing her phone onto the couch.

"Do they think I am being stupid!?" she half-shouted, rising to her feet. But she still wondered if it was maybe not a trap after-all.

"If I go knowing it is being a trap," she reasoned, heading for the parking lot and pulling on her Mamba riding jacket. "Then it is no longer being a trap."

The leader of the Saints paused at the door leading outside, frowning. "Unless it is being a _trap_ trap. Then I am really being fucked."

#

Ljubica slowed her Phantom to a stop, scanning above and around for hostiles. She didn't see anyone, or any obvious sniper perches, but she kept the engine running anyway.

"You came," Johnny said from a shadow, walking into the light. Aisha was standing next to him, and Ljubica felt an instant onset of rage, fueled by jealousy.

"Why is _she_ being here?" she spat.

"Girl, you haven't learned to talk right, yet?" Aisha jibed.

Ljubica frowned, reaching for her sword. She'd definitely brought it this time.

"Easy, ladies," Johnny urged. "We're not here to hurt you, Boss."

Ljubica spat. "I am not your boss anymore, Johnny. You fucking buried me alive!"

"In _my_ grave," Aisha added haughtily, crossing her arms.

"Too bad Lin had to go and fuck it all up for me," Johnny retorted.

Ljubica refused to show the sadness she felt at hearing that. Johnny was not himself, and so her resolve to rescue him was strengthened even further. She made a note to get with Ramona and see how she was coming on her… whatever it was she did.

"It's really too bad you are so stupid to have actually come alone," Johnny added, grinning with malevolence. "For you, I mean."

He pulled pair of Tek-Z's from behind his back, aiming them for the leader of the Third Street Saints, former lover, and best friend.

Ljubica wrapped the throttle around, and her Phantom surged forward just as Johnny opened fire. She crashed through a chain-link gate and turned sharply, nearly laying the motorcycle down onto it's side to make the ninety-degree turn out onto the street.

Headlights appeared in the darkness, encircling the area, engines revving as the Circle sprung it's trap.

Ljubica cursed under her breath in Russian, looking for a gap as her heart pounded and body supplied her with adrenalin. The cars were parked pretty close together, but there were two Bezier's that looked like they had just enough space to scrape through.

She went for it.

Ljubica's Phantom wailed as gunfire erupted from all sides. She heard bullets ricochet off her motorcycle's reinforced frame, and felt the burn as she was hit in the leg and side. She ignored it and rode on.

The passenger in one of the super cars opened his door, grinning maniacally as he through he'd stop he escape.

With the door of an ultralight-weight carbon fiber super car.

Ljubica smashed through the door like confetti, swerving dangerously close to falling as she ran over the Circle gang member that thought he was about to get a promotion. Righting herself, she sped off into the night as the Circle tried to recover enough to give chase.

#

Ljubica raced for Purgatory, the pain of her wounds coming to her now that the initial adrenalin rush was wearing off. She couldn't spare a look at her side to see how bad it was, but hoped the kevlar lining of her riding jacket had spared her the worst of it. Her leg was another matter, but she decided if it had been a femoral hit she'd have bled out by now, and so she pushed her machine to the limits of it's speed.

The Phantom bucked beneath her, protesting the abuse. Something sensitive had been hit, and it didn't seem to like full throttle.

"Fuck," Ljubica spat, hearing the wail of Circle sport bikes gaining on her. She weaved through the night's traffic on the interstate, furious at her own stupidity, but glad to have made it out of the ambush.

Up ahead, a red sports car was driving recklessly through the cars in it's path. As Ljubica caught up, she noticed the plate.

It read 'BLAYDE 1'

There was an open stretch of highway, and Ljubica pulled up next to Nyte Blade, waving with her left hand to Lin in the passenger seat.

"Hey gang, how's it hanging!?" Ljubica called.

"Boss!" Lin cried. "You're bleeding."

Ljubica shrugged. "Ambush!"

Lin looked back and saw the approaching motorcycles. There was a swarm of them coming after her.

"I'm going with the Boss, Nyte Blayde, you hold them off us as long as you can, okay?" Lin told her progeny.

"It _will_ be _done_," Nyte Blayde growled, flipping a switch on the dash. A panel fell open and an array of switches was revealed. He flipped one on the far left.

Lin grinned. A glut of oil spilled out the back, and two of the motorcycles slid out of control, fell, and tumbled into the vehicles of innocent bystanders, causing a pile up in their wake.

Several orange and black sport bikes still made it through the carnage, and continued the chase.

Lin climbed out onto the roof of the car, dark hair whipping in it's pony tail. She grinned, making her way over to the driver's side.

Ljubica looked over and saw what Lin was planning. She eased closer to Nyte Blayde's car, keeping her bike as steady as possible.

Lin leapt into the air, landing lightly on the passenger seat and snaking her arms around the other woman.

"Hey there," she purred, nuzzling Ljubica's neck.

"Not now, Lin," Ljubica growled. "Be focusing on fucking killing these assholes!"

Lin smirked, twisting around and firing her Turban over her shoulder. The front tire of one motorcycle blew out, and the rider high-sided, his bike smashing into him as he went over.

Ljubica heard the crunch of a truck plowing into, and over, the downed cyclist. "Good work!"

"Plenty more where that came from," Lin yelled, firing another burst over her shoulder. The windshield of the Thoroughgood shattered, blood spraying across the pickup's cab, and it swerved violently, taking out another two of the screaming Kenshins.

"Three down!" Lin called. "A little low on ammo, though!"

Nyte Blayde glanced in the rearview. He did not like the innocents being harmed by their chase. But his loyalties lay with the Saints and Lin, and he had an idea. Tapping another button on the panel, a cluster of caltrops tumbled from beneath the rear bumper of his car. Their points glinted in the street lights, blown tires causing most to simply slow down. One station wagon veered to the side, blocking traffic on half the highway.

A motorcycle slammed into the station wagon, nearly cutting it in half as the rider flew over top of the wreck and then slid and tumbled along the pavement. Another hit the caltrops and went down on it's side, sparks trailing like a dying comet.

Three more sport bikes managed to slip through and continued to give chase, sub machine gun fire cracking into the night. Ljubica swayed through cars, conscious of the bullets zipping past her. Her Phantom was struggling to keep pace more and more, but she wrung the machine out for all it would give her.

It would either keep running and they would live, or it would die and take them with it.

"Fly you bag of shit!" Ljubica growled.

"They're gaining!" Lin called.

"I am fucking knowing!" Ljubica shot back, pissed. "They are hitting the bike too much! Now would be a good time to be taking them out!"

Nyte Blayde was concerned about the condition of the Boss' motorcycle. If the engine went, it would take her out, his maker out, and however many innocents strayed into it's fiery path. Glancing at the rearview mirror, he saw a Circle cycle directly behind him, just starting to pull around.

He slammed on the brakes.

The motorcycle and it's rider slammed into the heavily armored car, cartwheeling up and over until landing in front of it. The low-slung sports car ran over the wreckage, and the ravaged machine and rider wedged beneath it's wheels and frame. Both slid to a stop against the side of the bridge, leaving a streak of blood, oil, and other fluids in it's wake.

Lin sprayed the last of her ammunition at one of the two remaining riders, riddling his body with lead, and he fell off the side of it. The motorcycle continued on for a couple hundred feet, slowly turning into the k-rails separating the sides of the highway.

"One left, Boss!" Lin cried over the howling wind. "But I'm out!"

"My motorcycle is nearly being finished, too!" Ljubica yelled back, swerving sharply around a slow-moving Mule. "I'll think of something!"

Lin growled, low and animalistic, eyes flashing purple. She wasn't going to let anything happen to this woman.

"Boss, I l-…" Lin began, but caught herself, stammering uncertainly. "I'll, uh, be right back."

"What the f-…!" Ljubica began, but it was too late.

Lin was gone, sailing through the air behind her and crashing feet-first into the rider of the last motorcycle. He was flung into the hood of a Churchill, denting it brutally amidst a spray of blood, before tumbling over it and out onto the highway.

Lin fell into the saddle, grinning, and twisted the throttle. She caught up to Ljubica's stricken Phantom in short order.

"Hey, Boss!" Lin shouted, bearing her teeth. "Need a lift?"

Ljubica smiled, shaking her head. "You are starting to be as crazy as I am!"

Ljubica swerved suddenly, drunkenly, almost dropping the bike, and Lin narrowly avoided a collision with her.

"Boss, you're covered in blood!" Lin shouted, curious how she'd missed it all this time. The Boss' blood was all over her own torso, too, and her hunger kicked into high gear.

Ljubica nodded. She felt light headed and nauseous. She needed to get to a safe harbor and tend to her wounds. Slowly, carefully, she pulled over to the side and coasted down the off ramp, Lin following close behind. She almost dropped her Phantom getting the side stand down, but managed to get her phone out and call Manny. He picked up before the second ring had finished.

"_Yeah, Boss?"_ he asked, concerned.

"Manny… come… my Phantom is needing to being trucked home," Ljubica managed. "I am just off the interstate, beneath the overpass."

"_A truck is coming, now, Boss,"_ he told her. "Want me to send your Torch?"

Ljubica nodded, forgetting he couldn't see her.

"Boss, he can't see you," Lin advised. "Tell him to send my Voxel."

"Lin's car. Purple and white Voxel," Ljubica murmured, and hung up. She slumped against a light pole.

"Fuck, Boss lemme have a look at you," Lin said quickly. She didn't like them being so close to the scene of the highway damage. Emergency sirens were closing fast.

Ljubica let Lin unzip her jacket and tear off a strip of her shirt, baring more of her midriff to the chill air. The returned Saint gave her thigh a quick bandage, frowning.

"It won't hold long, but shouldn't have to," Lin said, voice thick. "Take off your jacket."

"It is being cold," Ljubica growled half-heartedly, starting to zip it up.

"Boss, you're bleeding to death and I am _really_ having a hard time with this, okay?" Lin shot back. "Don't make it harder?"

Ljubica nodded, and shrugged out of her Mamba jacket, tossing it to the ground.

Lin's breath quickened, and her eyes dilated to nearly solid black orbs. "Boss," she hissed, trailing off shakily. The sight of that woman, torso covered in blood, was almost too much.

Ljubica saw the look of pure, unadulterated lust on Lin's face, coupled with those eyes, and reached for her sword.

"Don't," Lin growled huskily. "Don't do anything to make me think you're… prey, or fighting me."

"I'm no one's fucking prey, Lin," Ljubica argued dangerously.

Lin was torn. The sight of so much blood was sending her into overdrive, but part of her clung to not wanting to hurt this woman. But she couldn't flee and leave her like this, either.

Lin let out a long-suffering scream, head tilted back to the night sky.

"You okay?" Ljubica asked.

Lin swallowed, shaking her head. "No, but I'll have to be. Give me the rest of your shirt."

Ljubica pulled her shirt off over her head and handed it over. Lin tore off another strip, used the rest to pack the wound, and wrapped it up as best she could. She handed the other woman her jacket.

"It'll have to do until we get you home," Lin explained.

Ljubica offered her a tight smile. "Thank you. Go if you need to, ok?"

"I'm not leaving you," Lin retorted, voice strained. "Hurry the fuck up, Manny."

As if on cue, a purple Thoroughgood pulled up next to them. Lin's Voxel was behind it.

Lin ushered Ljubica to her car as several Saints hopped out of the bed of the truck and her car, lifting her Phantom into the bed. Lin made sure the Boss was buckled in and rushed around to the driver's side.

"Get her home safe," Manny urged, keeping most of his fear of Lin out of his voice.

Lin nodded. "I'll die first."

Lin checked to make sure she was clear and jerked the car out into traffic, narrowly missing an Attriazone before slamming the accelerator to the floor and screaming into the night.

#

Ljubica pulled a violet tank top over her fresh bandages. She was thinking of how to get back at the Circle for this, when Oleg burst into her bedroom.

She wasn't wearing any pants.

"_Oleg, what is it!?"_ she shouted in Russian.

"_They took her!"_ he bellowed. His fury was so profound he seemed to fill the entire room like a thundercloud of enraged muscle. _"They took my flower when she was getting those energy drinks of hers at the gas station!"_

Ljubica narrowed her eyes. Did the Circle play her? Or was it a coincidence? Was it the Fallen? She decided it didn't matter.

Someone was going to die for this.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Viola peeked her head into Ljubica's office. "You needed to see me?"

Ljubica nodded. "But do not be having a seat."

As Viola shut the door behind her, Ljubica grabbed the other woman by the neck and violently slammed her face-first onto the desk, pinning her there.

"_Where the fuck is Kinzie you traitorous bag of shit!"_ Ljubica screamed, seething with rage. She'd decided to play the Viola card now before anything more happened to the redheaded hacker.

Viola's head swam, and her heart raced, fueled by adrenalin. She struggled, but the other woman was much stronger and much, much angrier.

"_Where!?"_ Ljubica screamed, louder, slamming Viola's head onto the desk in emphasis.

"_You better tell her little girl,"_ Zimos sang from the corner of the room, moving to stand closer. _"I can't do shit for ya, now."_

Viola's heart sank. She'd been found out and betrayed. She had the best intentions when she started this, but things had just spiraled out of control entirely too quickly.

Ljubica used her free hand to pull her Shepherd, and jammed the barrel against the brunette's head. _"Last chance I am fucking asking, bitch!"_

"The Circle doesn't have Kinzie Kensington," Viola murmured, voice cracking.

"You would dare be lying to me?" Ljubica growled, finally regaining some semblance of control over her voice.

Viola swallowed, fear for her life pulling at her insides. "I'm telling the truth, damn it!"

Ljubica shoved her away, snarling. "Be getting the fuck out of my sight. Saints!"

Four burly young men, rough-looking and wearing purple jerseys, entered the room and took Viola away.

"_You didn't kill her,"_ Zimos noted.

"Not yet," Ljubica shot back. "I am being more worried about finding Kinzie. If The Circle is not having her, that means those Fallen assholes are the ones doing the kidnapping."

Zimos nodded. "What's the plan?"

"We tear apart every building in Stillwater," Ljubica replied darkly.

#

Kinzie fussed with the hem of her hoody. It was cold in the dingy, run-down apartment they were keeping her in, and as he wrists and ankles were bound she couldn't get up to move about. Two Fallen guards sat in the kitchen playing cards, barely paying her any heed.

Eddie 'Killbane' Pryor walked in from the front door, flanked by two musclebound bodyguards.

"How's it going, Saint?" he asked.

"Just fine, Eddie," Kinzie replied cooly. "She's going to hurt you for this. Probably kill you."

Eddie frowned. "Please, call me Killbane."

"You kidnapped me, _Eddie,_" Kinzie taunted, despite being terrified. But she drew on a persona she held locked away, pushing the fear aside. "And the Boss is going to find me. You know she will."

Killbane popped his neck, fingers flexing. Straightening his tie, he walked over to the woman, towering over her. His eyes bored down into hers.

"There won't be anything to find if you don't shut your damned mouth."

#

Ljubica's phone rang, the call coming in fro Zimos. She snatched it up and answered immediately.

"Big Z, what is up?"

"_One of my girls saw green cars speeding away from a gas station near Purgatory,"_ the pimp sang into her ear.

"So it is being the Fallen. Good work, Z," she told him. "Be giving her anything she wants."

She hung up the phone, tucking it away as she stalked around her office.

"I'm down Johnny and Kinzie," Ljubica muttered, considering her resources. "And Pierce and Shaundi are being in Steelport."

A few moments passed before she spoke again.

"I am still having Zimos, Oleg, Manny, and Ramona," she said, then hastily added, "And Lin and Nyte Blayde."

Grumbling, Ljubica kicked her desk. "But what the fuck can I be doing with them to get Kinzie without knowing where she is being!?"

Her phone rang as if to answer. Ljubica answered it without looking at the screen.

"What!" she spat.

"_Boss,"_ Manny said from the other line. _"I was at the store when I noticed some Fallen asshole buying a bunch of groceries. I followed them."_

"Go on," Ljubica urged, annoyed. Manny knew he had the authority to run something like that on his own initiative.

"_Get this,"_ he shot back. _"The stuff wasn't for them. They were delivering it to an apartment in Shivington. Sounds sketchy, huh?"_

"It is being bit odd," Ljubica agreed. "Any ideas?"

"_I bet they're holding Kinzie there,"_ he replied quickly. _"It's worth a shot, right?"_

Ljubica thought on it for a moment. If Kinzie _was_ there, she could be rescued now. But if she wasn't, the Fallen would know that the Saints knew they had her.

"It is being a gamble, Manny," Ljubica finally said, voicing her thoughts. "If she is being there, we win. If she is not being there, then we are having played our hand and the Fallen is knowing we are onto them. We might never find Kinzie."

"_You're right," _he agreed. _"But we need to do something."_

"Agreed. I will not be taking long coming to a decision, I promise. Bye bye, now."

Ljubica hung up and looked around the room, willing it to provide her with an answer. She had an idea, and called up Zimos. He answered on the third ring.

"_What's up, Boss?"_ he sang.

"Z, have the girls really work the Fallen they see on the streets," she told him. "Get whatever information they are having. Manny is saying some guys are making grocery deliveries to apartment in Shivington."

"_On it, Boss,"_ the pimp told her, and hung up.

"We'll be finding you, Kinz," Ljubica said to the room. "Just be hanging in there for awhile longer."

#

Kinzie watched her guards carefully. She had training from her FBI days and knew how to handle the situation. She also knew that she would probably have to escape on her own, unless the Fallen started calling the Saints and making demands.

The two men from The Fallen were again playing cards, and paying little, if any attention to the mousey woman sitting in the living room.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Kinzie called.

One of the men grumbled. The other laughed. "It's your turn, man."

"I say we stop giving her something to drink so she doesn't have to piss all the time," the first one said, annoyed. But he got up and made for the living room to help her up.

As she was lifted, Kinzie lost her balance and fell into him. "Oops, sorry!"

The guard growled, shoving her towards the bathroom. "Move it, you klutzy bitch!"

He slammed the bathroom door behind her. "No funny business!"

"Oh, none from me, sir," Kinzie told him, adding a little fearful waver to her voice. Under her breath, she muttered "Amateur."

Kinzie held his cell phone in her hand. She couldn't type very fast with her bound wrists, but she started accessing the smartphone's hidden menu. Smiling to herself, she pasted the GPS coordinates into a text message and sent it to the Boss, along with telling her where she was being held in the apartment. The Boss tended to come in shooting.

There was a pounding on the door. "Hurry up in there! I'm opening up in ten seconds!"

"Shit!" Kinzie hissed, willing the message to send. Cell service was spotty in Shivington.

"Five…" the man growled.

Kinzie's heart was racing.

"Four!"

"Come on you piece of crap," Kinzie whispered, biting her lower lip.

"Three! Better be pulling them pants up bitch or I'm gonna give you something special!"

Sent! Kinzie quickly deleted the message and dropped the phone in the toilet with a splash.

"Two!" the man bellowed.

Kinzie flushed, moving to the sink to wash her hands.

"One! I'm comin' in bitch!"

The guard yanked the door open, looking around. Seemingly satisfied, he jerked Kinzie out of the room before she could dry her hands off. She wiped them on his shirt instead.

"What the fuck bitch!" the guard grated.

"Don't call me that, pug-face!" Kinzie shouted back. "You didn't let me dry my hands!"

The guard drug Kinzie back to the living room and threw her on the couch. "Stay."

He grinned at his joke, and went back to the card game with his partner.

Kinzie stared at the shuttered windows, pleading inwardly. _Please hurry, Boss._

#

Ljubica started at her phone, trying to make sense of the text message. She had no idea who the number belonged to, and the string of numbers looked foreign. But after them were actual words.

'_Top floor, living room, facing south, east bldg -Kinz'_

Then she felt really stupid. Her Vulture had a display that showed the same strings of numbers.

"GPS coordinates!" she shouted happily. "Kinzie, I knew you were being too smart for their own good!"

How Kinzie seemed to know precisely where she was, the Boss had no idea. Knowing the redhead it was probably something complicated.

Ljubica placed a called to Manny. He picked up before the first ring died off.

"Manny, you were being right," she told him. "Kinzie managed to get me a text message with her coordinates. Good work. I am sending it to you, round up your crew but hang back a block away. I will be trying this my way, first."

#

Ljubica's way involved a large, purple Russian gunship flying over the streets of Stilwater. It felt odd not having Johnny or Pierce in the copilot's chair, but she could manage the weapons from her own position. She flew low and fast, keeping an eye on her location. It was night time, now, the sun having set as she was taking off.

There! A run-down apartment complex visible in the moonlight. Ljubica flew in close, hovering over the parking lot, so low that trash cans and lawn furniture were blown away with the downwash of the rotors.

Ljubica squeezed the trigger on her control stick, and the Vulture's powerful autocannon opened up with a vengeance.

#

Kinzie sat on the couch, listening to the sound of a large, heavy helicopter approaching. She had her hopes up, she knew the Boss' flew a Vulture better than anyone she'd ever heard of, and it was a big chopper out there for sure. Kinzie grabbed a blanket that reeked of filth and pulled it over her. There was sure to be shrapnel flying everywhere shortly. Her guards didn't seem to notice.

Until the front wall exploded inward, that is. The thumping of the gunship's cannon drowned out the shattering of the fragile apartment around them, shards of glass and chunks of brick, wood, and plaster creating a maelstrom of death in the immediate vicinity.

And then everything was still and silent aside from the helicopter's rotors.

"_Kinzie?"_ Ljubica called over the external speakers.

"Here, Boss!" Kinzie shouted, rolling off the couch and out from under a small pile of debris. She managed to get up and tried to wave her arms. She carefully hopped on the swiss-cheesed flooring, fearful of falling through to the first floor below.

Ljubica worked the controls, gently moving her Vulture over the wreckage that was once a slum apartment. She spotted Kinzie amidst the rubble, and flipped the switch to lower the winch and hook. The former FBI agent stepped onto the hook and held onto the rope for dear life, and Ljubica reeled her up into the helicopter's hold.

Kinzie made her way into the cabin and sat next to Ljubica, putting on the headset at her station.

"Thanks, Boss! I owe you one!" she called.

"Do not be mentioning it, Kinz!" Ljubica told her. "Let us be getting you home to Oleg!"

An alarm shrieked from the panel in front of her. Ljubica swore harshly, swinging the Vulture around in a heaving arc to avoid a missile that had been locked onto them.

Cyrus Temple, former head of STAG, grinned darkly from a rooftop nearby, lowering his Annihilator.

Ljubica didn't move in time. The Vulture took the hit on it's armored belly, but it still shuddered violently as she struggled to maintain control. The tail boom slammed into the apartment building, slicing through several apartments, but it miraculously held.

Temple held a radio up to his mouth. "She's been crippled, move in when the chopper crashes, men."

"Kinzie hang on!" Ljubica shouted, wrestling with the controls of the stricken aircraft. "Stay in the air, sweetie, Mama is needing just a little more!"

Ljubica kept the Vulture aloft, but it was slow on the controls. But she was still airborne, and Ljubica gave the aircraft more power and pitch, climbing slowly back up into the sky and headed towards Purgatory.

Temple frowned. Raising his elbow-mounted microwave laser, he took aim and fired at the fleeing aircraft. Already damaged, the tail was sliced neatly off and the mighty helicopter spun dizzyingly out of control.

Kinzie screamed.

"Fuck, fly you bag of shit!" Ljubica growled, fighting the controls all the way to the streets below.

The Vulture hit hard, slamming down onto the street and sliding on it's side into a liquor store. The rotors cut deep gouges in the concrete as they were chewed to pieces. The instrument panel erupted into a spray of sparks and shattered glass, acrid smoke filling the cockpit.

When it all finally came to a stop, Ljubica looked over at Kinzie, face covered in blood and unconscious. "Kinzie!"

Kinzie didn't respond.

Ljubica flung off her harness and checked the other woman's pulse, thankful she found it strong and steady. She picked Kinzie up and carried her from the wreckage, stumbling over to the sidewalk and setting her down before pulling her Shepherd.

Ljubica jacked the slide, then reached for her phone. The screen was shattered, but it came on and she unlocked it, calling Manny.

"_Almost there, Boss!"_ he said before she could speak. _"We saw you go down!"_

Ljubica put her phone away just as Cyrus Temple walked around the corner.

"Didn't I say you would be going down, Saint?" he asked grimly.

"Bag of shit!" Ljubica spat, and shot him three times in the chest.

The large-caliber handgun bullets bounced harmlessly off his body armor.

"Sorry, _Boss,_" he sneered. "You need something with a little more punch."

Ljubica glanced at the downed helicopter.

"Ah ah ah," Cyrus admonished, waggling his index finger at her. "Move towards the helicopter and I will burn you to the ground."

To make his point, Temple fired his laser into the wreckage, and Ljubica threw an arm over her face when it exploded.

"Upgrades," Ljubica said with a smirk.

"You're coming with me," Temple told her. "Let's go."

A two-toned purple and white Bootlegger convertible roared around the corner, screeching to a stop next to them.

"I am not thinking so!" Ljubica cried angrily, shooting at Temple's head. He expected it and ducked around the corner of the liquor store.

"Get Kinzie!" Ljubica shouted, dropping the magazine out and slamming a fresh one home.

Two large, male, Hispanic Saints picked up Kinzie, carrying her to the back seat, as Ljubica suppressed the corner Temple had hidden behind, firing her Shepherd over and over.

Drawing a bead with an NR4, a Hispanic woman she knew only by sight strolled over to her. "Want me to punch him full of holes like a shit-sponge, Boss?"

Ljubica laughed at the mental image. "I am a big girl, now let us be getting her out of here. We will be dealing with Cyrus later."

The woman nodded, and they made their way to the back to the car. As soon as everyone was in, Manny pulled away from the curb, tires squealing as the big engine roared towards the next gear shift.


	19. Chapter 19

AN: Oh noes! O.O There is purpose to the end of this chapter, I promise. I just can't give anything away just yet.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"Er, hi Boss," Kinzie said nervously, casting a glance over at her nude twin.

"You are sending her back _right fucking now!"_ Ljubica snapped, and the Kinzies quickly looked to one another, expressions identical.

"Just do it," the naked Kinzie squeaked, and her twin nodded, quickly typing away at her console.

#

Lin and Ljubica stood in the Boss' bedroom. Ljubica was leaning against the wall next to her bed, and Lin near the door. Lin was not wearing her usual 'uniform' but instead slumming it in black track pants, sneakers, and a purple hoody. Ljubica was wearing a pair of comfortable purple sweats with a black hoody, hair pulled back from her face in a pony tail.

"Look, Boss, I know you want to hit the Fallen right now," Lin said, hand on her hip and irritable. "And I do, too. But if we don't go after this Circle shipment _tonight_ they're going to have enough shit to fuel their operations for a very long time."

Ljubica frowned. They Circle wasn't willing to set foot in Eye For An Eye ever since the trap she'd laid for them. Now they were getting supplies for their rituals shipped to them.

"Fuck and shit," she finally grumbled. "You are being right, of course. Eddie is going to be getting his, if not tonight then soon."

"Let's go get our swords," Lin told her. "At least one of Mother's precious babies is going to be there watching over the delivery, I guarantee it.

#

Ljubica ducked behind a crate, peering out the side. The shipment was already here. They were at an older dock, little used and it was overrun with trash, debris, and homeless people. She looked over at Lin, who grinned, and the two women strode purposefully towards the waiting black Mules. Ljubica pulled her Shepherd and jacked the slide.

The next thing to do, of course, was open fire.

Ljubica shot two of them in the head, and as they started to get up while she passed, casually put two more bullets in them.

Lin tore into a cluster of three of them, snapping necks and twisting bodies until they all lay in a mangled, bloody heap.

Ljubica emptied her pistol into another, dropping the empty magazine to the ground as she started loading another. Before she could ram it home, she was hit from behind, hard, her assailant sending them both through the air. The fresh magazine was flung far in the other direction.

Ljubica felt her mind go into it's happy place. Everything slowed, and she twisted herself around in her attacker's grip, landing on her back. The wind was knocked from her, but she was calm as she reached for the sides of his head.

The burly Circle enforcer leered down at her, grabbed her face in one hand and slammed the leader of the Saints' head against a rock like he was trying to crack open a mussel and get at the goop inside. Scowling, he crashed her skull into the rock again.

Ljubica saw stars, eyes fluttering for a moment. But she felt her finger tips slide against his cheeks, and she grinned as she wrenched his head around with a sickening pop and grinding of bone. The man fell limp on top of her, and she shoved him off of her and got to her feet.

"Boss!" Lin cried. "You ok?"

Ljubica nodded, too quickly, and her vision swam, but she waived Lin off. "I am being fine."

"No, you're not, _niña,"_ Carlos said, sword drawn and ready, already lunging at Ljubica.

Ljubica stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding a disembowelment, and Lin hissed viciously, putting herself between them.

Ljubica drew her sword. "Be moving away, Lin," she ordered. "And be leaving him to me."

Lin drew her own sword slowly. "I've dealt how many fatal blows to you, Carlos?" she asked, moving out of the way.

"Not enough, apparently," he told her, smirking. He attacked slicing in a sweeping arc.

Ljubica ducked beneath the first swipe and came up slashing, but Carlos twisted out of the way.

"Quick little devil," Ljubica noted, sounding amused. She'd only ever fought Lin before, who'd grown breathtakingly fast. Still, Carlos was faster than most normal people.

"I can finish this now, Boss," Lin grumbled, watching Carlos intently. Her eyes had bled from brown to a vibrant, if pale, shade of purple.

Ljubica pressed the attack, now, forcing Carlos back several steps. "Come back to me, _niño,"_ Ljubica urged gently.

"Not happening," Carlos shot back, side-stepping a thrust and kicking her in the stomach.

A deep roaring seemed to fill the air, causing all three of them to look around. A strong wind picked up, kicking up dirt and debris. With a horrendous ripping sound, a hole shredded into existence in the very fabric of reality not far away. It was small at first, but growing.

"What the shit?" Ljubica breathed, squinting to protect her vision.

Then Carlos, shielding his eyes, was suddenly ripped through the air and sucked into the nothingness.

"Fuck, Carlos!" Ljubica screamed, instinctively taking a step forward. As her foot touched down, she very much wished she hadn't.

Ljubica let out a long, drawn out 'fuck and shit' as she was picked up and sucked through to the void herself. The hole was rapidly getting smaller.

"Boss!" Lin cried, and without thinking flung herself through the air at the tear in reality, slipping through it just as it closed.

The air was eerily silent as everything stilled. The only sign the Saints had even been there was a single Shepherd magazine, fully loaded, with a fleur-de-lis engraved into it's side.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Kinzie frowned at her laptop's display. There'd just been a huge energy spike down by the old docks. Hacking the lone security camera on a building nearby, she scanned the area to see what had happened. There were two Circle Mules and several bodies. Shell casings, upon zooming in they were from .45 caliber pistol. And then she spotted it.

A purple Shepherd magazine, engraved with a fleur-de-lis. The Boss was the only one in the Saints with a purple Shepherd.

Kinzie's first thought was an explosion, but there was no evidence of that at all.

"Maybe she just dropped it," Kinzie muttered, checking some readouts and keeping an eye on the camera. The next clue bothered her more than the magazine.

Lin's Voxel was parked nearby. The recently risen Saint was nowhere to be found, and neither was the Boss.

"This isn't good," Kinzie said nervously.

#

"So you found a way to communicate between dimensions?" Oleg asked. "Fascinating."

Kinzie was sitting at her computer, nodding. "Kinzie and I figured out how to transport people between them."

"So you are thinking that this other Kinzie has kidnapped the Boss?" Oleg asked, frowning and cracking his knuckles. He would tear that place apart to get back the comrade that had freed him from servitude to the Syndicate. "So we get a raiding party together to get her back."

Kinzie shook her head. "Let me contact Kinzie first, see what she has to say. Maybe it was an accident, maybe they don't even have her."

"So we sit idle and do nothing?" Oleg asked, sounding accusatory as he came to stand next to her. "How will we know if she is even speaking the truth?"

"Just for now," Kinzie told him, blindly reaching out and putting a small hand on top of one of his massive fists. "If I don't like what she has to say, then yeah, I'll happily agree with you and go in with everything we've got."

Oleg nodded grimly. "You have twelve hours."

#

"Saints, we have things to discuss," Oleg half-shouted to the gathered Saints below. He felt a little uncomfortable with the Saint of All Saints at his back, but pushed on. "The Boss has disappeared and we don't know where she is for certain."

There was an uproar, men and women shouting and looking to one another.

"Silence!" Oleg bellowed. "Until we get her back, we still have a job to do here in Stilwater!"

There were murmurs of agreement, more faces coming to look up at the massive Russian.

"Daniels, take a crew and hit the Fallen's warehouse in the industrial park," Oleg ordered. "Hit them hard and fast, recover what you can and raze it to the ground."

Daniels, a dark-skinned Asian, nodded, gesturing to a handful of Saints to follow him as he left.

"Artemis, take your crew and go hit the Fallen's safe houses in the Projects. Kinzie will tell you where."

Oleg seethed. His considerable rage was on a low boil. Someone had Arkady's daughter, and he was going to find her.

"Nyte Blayde, find the Circle wherever they are and destroy them! If they have the Boss, I want to know!"

Oleg was silent for several moments, glowering around the room before continuing. "The rest of you, go attack any gangs you see roaming the streets of our city!"

#

Kinzie tapped away furiously at her laptop. She was having trouble contacting herself, and didn't like that at all.

"_Lin_ is gone, _too_," Nyte Blayde growled from behind her, and Kinzie jumped, spinning around in her chair with a yelp.

"Don't sneak up on me!" Kinzie half-shouted. "And how the hell did you get in here?"

Nyte Blayde walked out from the shadow he'd been skulking in. "You _focus_ too much on your _computer_, I could have _taken_ _you_ at my _leisure_."

"You're crazy, Birk, you do know that, right?" Kinzie told him, shaking her head.

"_Nyte Blayde_," he immediately corrected. "But I have _told_ you what I _came_ here to. Good night."

Kinzie rubbed her arms as he stalked out of her Inner Sanctum. "What the hell is wrong with him? But it confirmed my suspicions. They're both gone."

#

Mother frowned at Aisha and Johnny Gat. Carlos had disappeared from her thoughts very suddenly, and hadn't come back.

"Something has happened to your brother," she told them, and both of them nodded. "I fear he is dead, the Saints attacked the shipment he was supervising the retrieval of."

"He was a pussy," Johnny grumbled. "We don't need him anyway."

Mother narrowed her eyes. "My plans would be easier with three, but I can work with just two."

#

Nyte Blayde crept along the trees of Mourning Woods. His mind was torn between two thoughts. Finding his maker, and killing the Circle. But a third thought kept pushing the other two away.

He was also very, very hungry.

Grimacing, he kept going, making his way deeper into the cemetery. He had to find answers, first, and he knew the Circle hung out in the area.

Off in the distance, he saw three figures standing over a grave. He considered giving them a wide birth, it was possibly a grieving family, or because of the late hour, goth kids getting high in the graveyard. But they could be Circle, too.

Then he felt it. Power rode the air. Power of the dead, and it called to him. Gritting his teeth, he moved in closer.

"Rise from your graves!" Mother called to the night sky, and power flared.

Pale, grey, and decaying hands punched through the turf, and bodies began to claw and pull their way out of the ground. All were in varying states of decay, but it seemed the woman was emptying the graveyard of corpses.

_God damn it no!_ Johnny screamed in his mind. He might be Mother's lackey, but there was a small core inside his mind that was still him, still remembered who he was. And right now that core wanted to rip the body that had just been raised to pieces.

Nyte Blayde crouched low in the shadow of a tree. He considered fighting, he could end this here and now, but Mother's trio had nearly killed his maker and she was stronger than he was. There were only two of them not including Mother, but if she took him like she had taken Johnny, he'd be useless to the Saints. He would have to settle for information gathering this time.

After they left, zombies in tow, Nyte Blayde made his way back to his car and headed for Purgatory.

#

Oleg roared his battle cry, smashing his fists into the side of a Peterliner. The huge truck slid sideways on screeching tires and crushed four Fallen against the side of a building, blood and gore splashing up over the side and from underneath. All around him, Saints were taking positions and shooting at the Fallen in the area, and more cars arrived regularly. The enemy was getting backup, but not as frequently, and Team Purple was winning the day.

The Russian titan barely felt the bullets hitting him, they were as insignificant as biting flies to him right now. He turned and swung a heavy fist, and the Fallen woman sneaking up behind him with a shotgun was sent sailing through the air leaving a trail of blood.

"_Where is she!?_" he bellowed, picking up a car and throwing it into an arriving green on black Compensator. The truck burst into flames, the occupants screams snuffed out as it exploded. There was a loud crack and something heavy slammed into his back.

"Helicopters!" Oleg shouted, picking up a Swindle and heaving it at the Stilwater PD Oppressor hovering overhead. The chopper crumpled at the impact and fell to the ground, rotors chopping brutally through Fallen and some bystanders who'd decided to film the carnage with their cell phones. It exploded shortly after.

Oleg knew he couldn't keep this up forever. Even he had limits, but as long as he held out, he was going to destroy. When Ljubica came back, and he knew she would, she would _not_ find Stilwater _deeper_ in enemy hands.

Kinzie fired her Ultimax at close range into a Fallen man's chest, and he crumpled to the ground. She fired again and again as several rushed her, thankful she didn't have to pump rounds into the upgraded model.

Of course, it ran out of shells a lot faster, and as she tried to reload, Kinzie ducked under the reaching arms of a Fallen gang member.

"Oleg, a little help here!?" she called, swinging the butt around to crash into the skull of another banger that got too close.

Oleg rushed a cluster of Fallen, green and black clad bodies scattered like a child with a pile of leaves. He loomed over Kinzie, grabbing a man in each hand and smashing their skulls together. He wiped his bloody hands off on his coat.

"Are you well, my dear?" Oleg asked heatedly, scanning for more threats. They were alone for the moment.

Kinzie nodded, swapping magazines. "Thanks. They were overrunning me and I couldn't get a chance to reload."

"This will be a day to be remembered," he told her, turning back to join the fray.

#

"You let her get away," Killbane said darkly, towering over Cyrus Temple. "You shot her down, and she _still_ got away."

The military man was unimpressed. "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy," he stated simply. Frankly, Temple was surprised the eloquent madman hadn't beaten him to the punch on that one.

Eddie frowned. "Fair enough. What are your men doing now to fix it?"

"Nobody's seen the Boss for a few days," Temple told him. "The Circle told us that Carlos Mendoza is missing, too. Feared dead."

Killbane slammed a fist down in the table. "_Not_ what I wanted to hear."

"Well, that's what you're going to hear, because it's what I have," Temple shot back coolly.

Eddie Pryor shook his head. "Not what I meant. So no clue where the Butcher has gone into hiding. Great."

"We should have just killed her," Cyrus grumbled. "Nice and quick."

"She humiliated me!" Killbane roared. "She took everything from me and she's going to pay for what she's done!"

"A mask is what she took from you, a piece of gaudy fabric. What do you know about real loss?"

Killbane narrowed his eyes. "It's not just a mask. It's honor, it's _dignity_. It's everything! And I know she took your girl, my condolences."

Cyrus Temple nodded sharply. "So, what's our next move? The Saints are really taking a toll on our operations, they really ramped things up when she disappeared."

"Like the true coward she is," Eddie growled, clenching a fist. "Turn up the heat and then go hide."

Eddie Pryor was silent for a few moments as he gathered his thoughts. "Hit Purgatory. Everything we've got. If she's there, it'll draw her out, and if she isn't, well, we take it from the Saints and burn it to the ground."


	21. Chapter 21

AN: I'm trying to keep up with chapters of Devastation, work on the Clusterfuck collab with Shadow182angel and Double H19, and then start at the beginning of the Saints with Saints Row Begins. Whew! Updates for Devastation should be coming a little quicker, now, since I have most of Devastation's final act written out :) Ljubica will be back when the events of Clusterfuck conclude :D Thank you to everyone that's reviewed, favorited, and followed this and anything else I've ever written. It really keeps us fic writers going!

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The attack on Purgatory came an hour before dawn. Scores of Fallen and Circle vehicles descended on the Saints' hideout like a swarm of killer bees defending the hive. Foot soldiers piled out of them, quickly overwhelming any Saint standing outside.

Johnny and Aisha strode purposefully towards the front door, in perfect unison. Both had a pair of T3K Urbans in their hands, katanas on their backs, and as they reached the front door, Johnny kicked it inwards, shattering the frame.

Mother's minions stood aside as the Fallen and Circle poured into the breach.

#

It was complete, utter chaos inside the nightclub. The Saints fought a desperate battle, and while they had the home field advantage, their massed enemy had the high ground. Gunshots from weapons of all type were constant, and the occasional grenade went off, scattering Saints and their enemies alike.

"Once more into the breach, my friends!" Oleg bellowed, pitching a Fallen into a cluster of enemies like a carnival game. Their bodies were scattered like so many milk bottles, and the hulking Russian searched for something else to smash. Instead he found himself near Kinzie.

"Go release Viola and Tera," he ordered.

"Oleg we don't have time…" Kinzie shot back, firing her Ultimax into the chest of the closest Fallen member.

"If Purgatory falls," Oleg shouted, back handing a Circle that got too close. "If Purgatory falls, I will not have them falling into the hands of the enemy. They are still Saints even if being held prisoner!"

Kinzie winced at his tone, but nodded. As she went to rush off, her Russian Superman gently took her arm, and he kissed her, passionate and strong, before releasing her.

"My apologies for shouting," he told her, then turned and charged into several Circle.

Kinzie was still blushing when she made her way to the area where they were keeping Viola and Tera. She unlocked the door to their room and shoved open the door.

"You're free," she said quickly. "Either help us fight these guys off, or run, I don't really care and neither do the Saints."

"I'm staying," Viola told her. "I owe the Boss for what I did to the Saints, and to her."

"You do," Kinzie replied, wincing as an explosion rattled the basement, lights flickering.

"Fuck this, I'm out of here," Tera grated, looking around. "_How_ do I get out of here?"

Kinzie pointed into the darkness. "You should be able to find a way back up to the street that way."

Viola and Tera went to the weapon rack down by the Range, each grabbing an AR-55 off the wall and several spare magazines. As they turned, a horde of zombies shuffled out of the darkness, stretching back until disappearing into the inky blackness.

"Run!" Kinzie shouted, backing towards the door. As the tide of undead charged, she started firing into them, as Tera and Viola's assault rifles opened up.

#

Oleg heard gunfire from the basement, and immediately started fighting his way to the stairs leading deeper into Purgatory. "I am coming, my flower!"

A blow from behind sent the Russian titan staggering forward, and he turned to meet his attacker.

"Ah ah ah," Johnny said with dark chuckle. "Mother's gift to that Russian slut is a little busy with your girl at the moment, _comrade."_

Oleg swung a heavy fist, the blow snapping Johnny's head to the side, shattering his glasses and sending them askew. But the hybrid zombie turned his head back, grinning.

"That the best you got, big guy?" he asked cockily, punching Oleg in the stomach.

Rage welling from deep within, Oleg grappled with Johnny, both men struggling for the advantage with their incredible strength.

"You are strong, I give you that," Oleg said, gritting his teeth. "Like bull. But I must ask, can you throw cars?"

"Huh?" Johnny asked. "What the fuck does that got t-…"

Oleg lifted Johnny bodily into the air over his head, hurling him through space. The Saint-cum-Circle Lieutenant crashed through several walls before finally coming to rest in an unfinished room.

"Hang on, Kinzie!" Oleg shouted, barreling his way through enemy gang members on his way to the basement.

#

Ramona flinched every time a gun went off nearby. She watched in awe as Oleg threw Johnny through a wall, and then rush off. There was a brief lull in her area, and as she took a moment to dust herself off, she felt a prickle at the back of her neck.

"Hey there, sweetie," Aisha said, drawing her sword and raising it over her head.

Ramona curled her fingers just so, shouting something in an ancient tongue, and Aisha froze, surrounding by sparkling, faintly purple energy. The hispanic woman sneered. Her dealings with and gifts to Baron Samedi were paying off.

"I am growing stronger than your bitch Mother," she spat, accent thickening with her anger. "I am going to kill her soon and take her power from her, and the Baron will bury you where you belong."

Ramona was suddenly picked up from behind, and her concentration broke, spell shattering into glittering shards. She screamed, struggling, but the Circle enforcer that had grabbed her was much stronger than she was.

"Let's get this one home," Aisha said darkly. "Mother will be so pleased."

#

"We're fuckin' finished," Tera growled, reloading her rifle.

The three women were pinned against the Range by the sea of zombies. The good news was they had lots of ammunition to fight with, but the bad news was that they were far from the exit leading back upstairs. Another explosion shook the room, plaster falling from the ceiling.

"Giving up that easily?" Viola quipped. "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna keep making my rifle bursss until all these zombie creeps are dead!"

Kinzie rolled her eyes. She knew if _Viola DeWynter_ was making jokes about the YouTube videos, things were incredibly dire. Chuckling low, she fired her shotgun over and over, heavy slugs ripping through zombie torsos and heads.

"Just keep your shirt on," the hacker told her.

"We're out of magazines!" Tera called, shoving the last spare magazine for the ARs into her rifle.

Viola tossed her empty AR-55 aside, pulling a K8 Krukov off the wall instead. "We have plenty for these, though!"

Kinzie tossed aside her Ultimax while the other two women covered, and got a Krukov of her own, the Russian battle rifle nearly as loud as her shotgun when it went off.

Soon Tera had her own K8, and the three women fought on.

#

Johnny groaned, getting to his feet.

_Damn it, Oleg, why didn't you just finish me off?_ he thought to himself. The small core of himself that was left was glad Ljubica wasn't here, he didn't want to hurt her again.

The Saint-turned-Circle picked his way over the rubble, running into Aisha and her courier as they were heading for the parking lot, Ramona's unconscious body over the other man's shoulder.

"We got a prize Mother will love," Aisha told him. "Come on, let's get her back to the cemetery."

Johnny nodded. "I think between both gangs and the zombies, this place is finished. Let's get outta here."

Aisha nodded, and Johnny joined her in step as they headed out into the parking lot.

#

Kinzie, Viola, and Tera stood shoulder to shoulder in a slight arc, firing KA-1 Kobras at the massed zombies before them. The pistols were all they had magazines for, their red laser sights glinting off decayed, desiccated flesh as they fought for their lives.

"I'm out!" Kinzie called, throwing her uses weapon at the horde with a frustrated cry.

"I wish I could say it's been fun!" Tera growled, firing several more times before her Kobras clicked empty.

Viola was lamenting that she'd be remembered as a traitor, when a ragged battle cry roused her from her thoughts.

"Oleg!" Kinzie cried.

Oleg roared in defiance as he smashed his way through the tide of undead. Their rotted flesh exploded like overripe melons, splashing his suit jacket with gore and ichor, and he was soon looming over the three women.

"No time!" Oleg bellowed, interrupting Kinzie's opening mouth. He scooped all three women under one arm and rushed the exit back up to Purgatory, using one arm like a battering ram to clear the path. He shoved the door shut behind them, dropping his charges and pulling the redheaded hacker into a hug.

"Blockade the door," he ordered, releasing Kinzie and plodding off back to the fight. "And then join me upstairs."

#

Oleg looked around the nightclub. Purgatory was in shambles, but the Saints still controlled it. He wearily climbed the stairs, looking out over the cleanup.

"You would make the Boss proud to call herself a Saint!" Oleg shouted, raising a fist.

The Saints below stopped what they were doing, cheering.

"This will not go unpunished," Oleg promised darkly. "After we get things back in order here, we are going to hit these bastards again and show them why you do not _fuck_ with the Saints!"

There was another resounding cheer, and the 3rd Street Saints redoubled their efforts despite their weary bodies.

"Mr. Oleg," Manny said, voice cracking as he walked up. "I think they got my sister."

"Ramona?" Oleg asked, heavy brow frowning. "Are you sure?"

Manny nodded, handing the towering Russian a medallion. "This was hers, I found it downstairs."

Oleg nodded, eyes gentle. "We will be getting her back. If they took her instead of killing her, then they are wanting her alive for some purpose."

#

"Rival me, my dear?" Mother asked, amused. "I was casting circles when you were a stain running down your mother's leg."

Johnny chuckled. It was more crude than anything he'd ever heard the woman say, but he approved.

Aisha said nothing, patiently waiting. Ramona was tied to a table in the dark sewer and catacombs they called home, the stink of rot and rancid water filling her nose.

Mother trailed her fingers down the younger woman's cheek. "You will make a fine sacrifice when the time is right."

Ramona spit at her. "They will come for me, and you will pay."

"Oh believe me," Mother told her, grinning darkly. "I am counting on her coming down here for you."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Oleg stood behind Ljubica's desk, fingertips resting gently on the top as he glowered at the two women before him. Kinzie stood in the corner of the office, at Oleg's insistence.

"By rights both of you should be dead," Oleg said sternly. "I should be putting you into lockdown until the Boss gets back to decide your fate."

Tera stiffened, looking away, but Viola met the towering Russian's fierce gaze, nodding once.

Oleg noted each woman's reaction, but let his face show nothing.

"But it was great thing you both did in keeping the zombies from overrunning Purgatory," he added. "Along with Kinzie, but she is not on trial here for being traitor."

The former FBI agent couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"Tera was going to flee when I freed them," Kinzie told him. "Viola wanted to stay to try and atone, and this was _before_ there were any zombies."

Tera whirled on the hacker. "How fucking dare you!" she hissed.

"Enough!" Oleg bellowed, and Tera turned back around. "Is this true?"

"She's lying," Tera said immediately.

"I heard it, too," Viola admitted. "Tera was going to run."

The microbiologist opened her mouth, eyes wide. This was not going how she'd imagined it in her head. "But I stayed, fought with them…"

"You were trapped and wanted to saved your own ass," Viola said drolly. "You're a selfish bitch."

"_You_ were in that cell with me!" Tera fired back, livid. "_We_ were coming up with a plan to escape!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Viola smirked, crossing her arms and slouching on her hip.

"Holy shit, you-…!"

"Silence!" Oleg shouted, pounding his fists onto the desk. The heavy piece of furniture bounced once, papers fluttering to the floor.

Everyone in the room stared at the Russian titan.

"Until the Boss returns and decides otherwise, this is my proclamation," Oleg growled. His rage was growing, and he did the best he could to keep it on a low simmer instead of the rolling boil that was threatening.

After a moment, he went on, leveling his gaze on the former Morningstar. "Viola DeWynter, you were selfless in staying when Purgatory was under assault. Your past actions, while heinous, you did with good heart and intentions. You are free to remain with the Saints, and be free, unless the Boss says differently. However, you will be monitored at all times."

"Thank you, Oleg," Viola said quietly. "Given our post you don't owe me anything. I promise I won't fuck up again. You have my word."

Oleg nodded sharply, not fully believing her word was worth much, yet, but he turned his thunderous brow towards Tera, who was still rolling her eyes from Viola's statement.

"Tera Patrick," Oleg rumbled. "You aided in bringing Johnny Gat back from the dead, but you also led the Boss into trap after trap in doing so, and it was only through fear for your safety that you finally aided the Saints. And according to these two you only fought the zombies to save your own skin."

Tera stubbornly kept her mouth shut. All of it was true, and she knew no one would believe her anyway if she tried to lie, if the way things had been going were any indication.

"I would kill you where you stand," Oleg went on. "Fortunately for you, I am only temporarily in charge, and I can only imagine at why the Boss has kept you around for so long. You are a traitorous _šljuha_ and not worthy of the Saints, or even the pimps that roam the streets of Stilwater. As we are having cells here no longer, you are to be transported to Steelport to await further trial when the Boss returns."

Tera stiffened. It wasn't great, but it was better than she expected. She assumed she was going to be permanently exiled or even killed. At least if she was exiled she'd have had her freedom.

"Kinzie?" Oleg asked simply.

Kinzie nodded, moving forward and pulling out a tracking anklet. She knelt, buckling it onto Viola's ankle.

"Me and Neal Caffrey," Viola said dryly.

Kinzie chuckled, tightening the strap on Tera's anklet. "If these come off ladies, I'll know. And then we'll have to kill you."

"Are we done here?" Tera asked heatedly, storming for the door.

"If you leave before I do," Oleg said off-handedly as her hand touched the knob. "You will be killed. Myself or Kinzie must leave first, standing orders."

"How pragmatic," Viola said with a wry smile.

#

"Oleg!" Kinzie half-shouted into her phone. "She's coming home!"

The redhead hacker hung up and tapped away at her keyboard, filling in equations and formulae. She didn't want to screw this up.

She'd made a few upgrades to the gate, less wires were hanging everywhere, and it started to glow. A thrumming sound filled the air, followed by a purple flash of light. Crackling purple energy raced along the edge of the dimensional portal, a void opening in the space between the spars. Air rushed out of it, and then Ljubica, Lin, and Carlos were flung out, sliding across the floor and tumbling to a stop against a bank of computers as the rent in the air closed.

"Gotcha!" Kinzie shouted, clearly pleased with herself.

"Fuck and shit," Ljubica breathed, sitting up and rubbing her head. She got up off the ground, adjusting her hair sticks and walking towards the former FBI agent.

"You're telling me," Lin grumbled, getting to her feet as Oleg stormed into the room.

The towering Russian's face split into a smile as he saw his friend's daughter, safe and sound, pulling her into a tight hug. "Boss, you have returned."

"Ooof!" Ljubica wheezed. "Da, yes, now be letting me go, comrade! I am needing this thing called _air."_

Oleg chuckled, letting her go.

Ljubica looked around Kinzie's Inner Sanctum, sighing. "Is good to be home again."

Lin was watching Carlos intently. "Are you with me, Carlos?"

Carlos turned to look at the vampire. "Yeah, I'm me, still. She doesn't control me anymore."

Ljubica felt her shoulders sag in relief.

Oleg glowered at Carlos all the same, and Kinzie edged away from him.

"So, what happened?" Kinzie asked warily, hooking a greasy lock of hair over her ear.

Ljubica turned to her. "It all begins with some asshole trying to be saving his people…"

#

Ljubica sat in her office, pondering the possibilities of all that had happened on their adventure, but one thing stuck in her mind most of all. Lin had bled all over her when she was really hurt, and then she'd woken up completely healed the next day.

But what did that mean where Mother was concerned?

Before she could dwell on it, though, she felt Lin waking up. Soon the scent of Lilacs tickled at her nose, and the vampire strode through the door wearing a pair of purple track pants, sturdy black shoes, and a black halter top. Her hair was tucked up in a flowered bun, darker purple hair sticks stuck through the sides in an 'X' pattern. Her catsuit didn't make it back from the other dimension, destroyed as it was, and so she was dressing down while making a new 'uniform.'

"Boss, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the desk and crossing her arms.

Ljubica had learned she can't lie to Lin, and so just told her what was bugging her. "Mother."

"What about her?" Lin scoffed. "We're still gonna kill her, right?"

"Lin… what if I am being… dead?" the Russian woman asked carefully. "Or dead enough?"

Lin frowned. "You're not dead, honey."

"I healed overnight when you bled all over me," Ljubica sighed. "I am not healing so fast usually. It was like Medusa."

"Look, I promise you're not dead, all right?" Lin told her. "I tasted you after that night and you still taste like happy."

Ljubica smirked at that. "Is good to be knowing I will not be ending up like Johnny."

And just like that, her heart wrenched. She hadn't really thought about Johnny for most of the time she'd been gone. There'd just been so much going on that she didn't have the time, other than her pep talk to Medusa.

"Boss, we'll get him back," Lin said gently. She didn't want it, but after hearing Ljubica's admission, she felt maybe there was a chance for her in the woman's life still, too.

Ljubica cast a glance at the other woman. "You would be helping me, knowing neither of you will be sharing me?" she asked bitterly. She was never fond of being forced to do anything, and now she couldn't even choose between two people, both who would force her to make a choice between them.

Lin smiled a bit. "I want you to be happy," she said simply, getting up and walking for the door. She called over her shoulder, "I need to eat, I'll be back shortly, okay?"

Ljubica nodded. "Go on, and Lin?"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Thank you," the leader of the Saints told her old lover. "For everything."

#

"She will come for me," Ramona hissed.

"And you won't be alive to see it," Mother promised, plunging an ornate dagger into the other woman's throat.

Ramona gurgled, eyes bulging, as her blood gushed hot, thick and red into a huge clay urn below her.

Mother's hair rose on an unseen wind, blowing, the air crackling with power. She willed the dying woman's heart to keep beating, pumping more and more blood into the urn. As the flow finally trickled and then stopped, Ramona's mouth fell slack, and glazed, dead eyes stared up at the ceiling.

Mother dipped her hands into the blood and staggered, a jolt of raw Vaudun energy coursing through her body in a blinding surge of agony. But she opened herself to the pain, the power, accepting Baron Samedi's gift to the girl and taking it for her own.

"Soon I will have the power I need," Mother breathed, eyes brightly lit with orange fire before fading to a darker burnt umber. "Soon we will be ready to set things into motion. Dump her body where it will have the most impact."

#

Manny tightened the oil filter down, then wiped his brow with a greasy shop rag. The mechanic's purple coverall was covered in stains and grime, a tale of old grease, oil, and other fluids. His face was smudged and dirty, but his eyes were bright, happy. He loved working on anything mechanical, and as hard as the Boss was on her toys, he was always busy, and the pay was better than any shop he'd ever worked at.

Humming to himself, he shut the hood to the Boss' Nelson convertible, then started putting his tools away in a large, armoire-style tool box. Groaning after a moment, he remembered he had forgotten to check the battery in the Nelson. He'd tucked it into the trunk for weight balance, and just hadn't seen it under the hood to jog his memory. He pulled open the door and popped the trunk, walking around to the back and lifting the lid over his head.

Ramona's dead eyes gazed back at him, throat sliced openly in the oddly clean way that only a sharp knife can do. She was pale and sallow-looking, hair frizzed and matted, body more or less desiccated, and was already starting to smell. Flies were buzzing, and maggots crawled out from under her right eye.

Manny gagged as the sickeningly sweet, vomit-like stench of a dead body swept over him, while a sob lurched into his throat.

"Ramona!" he finally cried while slapping the trunk lid repeatedly, a racking sob tearing from him as he sagged against the car, face twisted in grief. "No, no, no!"


	23. Chapter 23

Quick AN - I made the decision to edit Shogo out. I only added him in the first place just to spitefully bury him alive while... alive and undying lol. But in the end it was kind of silly, so he's gone, now. Anyway, here we go!

Chapter 23

Mother looked to the East. She suddenly knew with certainty that Carlos was back.

A mother always knows, after-all.

"Carlos is back," she said coolly, and Johnny and Aisha looked up.

Mother frowned, ignoring them. Something was interfering, fighting her link to Carlos, and it shouldn't have. It wasn't like when Lin broke free from her, this was… another, not from within. This was someone else with power that kept her at bay, but she felt the force growing steadily weaker, and she smiled. It was only a matter of time before he was hers again. She wouldn't have to waste effort brute-forcing her talons back into him.

He would come to her by himself, all in good in time.

#

"Sir," Donnie said quickly, standing before Killbane and Temple. They looked up from the model of Stilwater they'd been discussing, moving troops around.

"What is it, Donnie?" Killbane grumbled. "This better be important."

"An envoy from the Circle just told me that Carlos is back. Which means _she_ is back. They're at the Freckle Bitch's in the Row, near the Forgive and Forget."

"I don't forgive or forget," Killbane's deep voice rumbled, eyes narrowing. "Temple? The little Icarus has flown for the last time. Level that restaurant like Mount Vesuvius over the doomed Pompeii."

Cyrus Temple nodded sharply. "I'll launch at once."

#

Ljubica, Lin, and Carlos sat at a booth at Freckle Bitch's. Ljubica was stuffing her face with a Fist, Lin looking on with a bemused expression. Carlos was brooding, pointedly looking away from the table.

"You can go back eventually, you know," Lin told him.

"I feel lost, empty," he admitted, sighing.

Carlos missed the connection with that other one, the one they called Medusa. It had severed as soon as they'd jumped, and he wondered if this was why the Boss was so close to Lin again so quickly. He reasoned with himself that was what it was, and tried not to dwell on the almost-was she'd admitted to him. Instead he turned his thoughts to the woman with blue eyes.

Lin nodded, but changed the subject. "So, Boss, my room is in the basement that's currently home to a horde of zombies…"

Ljubica finished her drink, and looking around, spotted the sign for the bathroom.

"I am needing to go, be back in minute," she told them, and got up. "We will be clearing out Purgatory soon, promise." Then she headed to the restaurant's bathroom.

As Ljubica set the lock of the toilet stall in place, the building shook violently. Parts of the ceiling caved in, and she heard the unmistakeable sound of fighter jets screaming overhead. Climbing over fallen pipes, conduit, and sheet rock, she forced the bathroom door open and was met with a nightmare.

Freckle Bitch's was a burning pile of rubble, and Lin and Carlos were nowhere to be seen. After all she'd gone through with them in the past week, they couldn't be gone. But Ljubica realized she still felt Lin, so she was alive, just buried somewhere under all this mess, and Carlos would be with her.

A microwave laser streaked across the wreckage, and Ljubica dove out of the way.

'_It's over, Saint!'_ Temple's voice called from his VTOL's external speakers.

"Bullshit it is," she growled, calling the number of Brian, her VTOL delivery specialist. He picked up immediately.

"Freckle Bitch's in Row!" she barked, losing the phone in another dive for cover. She'd have to trust he heard her.

Ljubica wanted nothing more than to dig for her people, but Temple forced her to be on the defensive, constantly seeking cover while he shot at her. Lips curling in a snarl, she drew her Shepherd and jacked the slide, pumping a round into the chamber. She worked her way to the outside of the building, slipping quickly along a wall to wait for Temple to do another flyby.

"Boss!" Lin called, and she looked over to see her running up from a wrecked car. "He's still inside!"

Ljubica didn't have time to find out why she wasn't buried, either, but it was a relief. She popped out from cover at the sound of approaching turbines, squeezing off round after round at the deep green VTOL as it made another strafing run. The bullets bounced harmlessly off his canopy, and she grit her teeth, jerking back around what remained of the exterior wall and running around the next corner.

Brian arrived then in a Saints VTOL, streaking in and flaring in hover mode, landing with an expert's finesse. The canopy popped open and a burly, if thick around the middle Saint with long, red dreadlocks and dark skin hopped to the ground.

"All yours, Boss!" he called, already looking for 'borrowed' transportation back to headquarters.

Ljubica nodded, then pointed with her pistol. "Lin, be getting Carlos and going back to Purgatory."

"You're not sending me away!" she shot back, shaking her head.

Ljubica was already tucking her Shepherd back into the small of her back, climbing up into the cockpit.

"Lin, just be doing it!" she shouted, closing the canopy and tapping away at the controls. She wasn't going to lose him again.

'_Startup sequence, initiated,'_ the craft told her, lifting into a low hover above the parking lot. She worked the stick and throttle, gaining altitude, glancing to the sky and scanning the radar for Temple. Kinzie called her radio, then.

'_Boss, there's a lot of activity in the air around there,'_ the hacker told her.

"No shit," Ljubica grumbled, noting the radar targets appearing.

Cyrus Temple's F-69 streaked in from it's turn, switching to hover mode and rearing to bleed speed. He was flanked by three black and green VTOLs on either side.

'_There's too many of them!'_ Kinzie shouted, worried. _'Your odds of winning are very bad.'_

"Never be telling me odds!" Ljubica growled, glowering at Temple through the canopy. Carlos was still buried below in the burning rubble of a Freckle Bitch's that Temple had attacked, and Lin had almost been caught in it, too.

She wasn't leaving him alive this time.

_'Give up, Saint!'_ Temple called over the VTOL's external speakers. _'You're outnumbered now seven to one.'_

Ljubica thumbed the missile button on her control stick, and the VTOL immediately to Temple' s left exploded as it was hit, falling from the sky to the parking lot below.

"Is now being six to one!" Ljubica shouted, pulling back on the control stick.

_'Take her down!'_ Cyrus Temple barked.

Ljubica pushed the mode button, shoving the throttle forward.

_'Jet Mode activated,'_ the F-69's feminine computerized voice announced, and in the other aircraft Temple was squeezing the trigger on his control stick.

The fighter's powerful turbines spooled up, and Ljubica shot just over Temple's canopy as the Fallen aircraft opened fire.

"Damn it!" Cyrus growled, turning and switching to Jet Mode to pursue her. "After her!"

An 80s synth bass, punchy and poppy, reverberated in Ljubica's helmet, the speakers blaring an overdriven guitar immediately after. An organ joined in, and she laughed.

"You're being awesome Kinzie!" Ljubica gushed, turning towards the enemy aircraft, her volatile mood completely changed to something more upbeat. The guitar let out a lonesome chord, reverb-drenched drums carrying the verse.

_'Revvin' up your engine,'_ Kenny Loggins began, soft and soulful, and Ljubica sang along with him. "Be listening to her howling roar…"

_'Metal under tension,'_ Kenny sang, and Ljubica picked up the next line, targeting one of the green and black VTOLs. "Is begging you to touch and go..."

She fired a barrage of missiles at it as the guitars came back in.

"Hiiiiiighwaaaaaay toooo-ooo Danger Zone!" Ljubica belted along with the eighties singer, pushing the throttle forward, her VTOL surging forward. The Fallen fighter exploded into a ball of fire and scrap metal, the Saint's leader rolling to avoid a microwave laser blast from Temple and streaking right through the falling wreckage.

"Riiiiiidiiiiiing tooooooo... Danger Zooooooooooooone!" Ljubica sang on, giggling as she let the word 'zone' trail off. She hadn't felt this giddy in what felt like ages.

She pulled up into a climb after another target and squeezed the trigger on her stick, microwave laser slicing the tail off an enemy craft. It spun out of control and exploded on impact with the Phillips Building, leaving a huge, flaming hole in the side of Ultor's headquarters.

"Oops!" Ljubica laughed, slicing past the smoking building. "Uh, tax write off?"

"This kid is good," Cyrus mused, angling in to give chase.

_'Headin' into twilight,'_ Kenny sang, starting the next verse, and Ljubica jerked the stick over as she switched to Hover Mode, pivoting the craft on it's axis and firing her missiles at nearly point blank range into another enemy craft. "Spreading out her wings tonight..."

The Fallen F-69 erupted into a ball of fire, the Saints VTOL shuddering from the close shockwave.

_'She's got you jumpin' off the deck,'_ the song continued, and Ljubica worked the controls, sliding to the left to avoid a missile volley from Cyrus as he entered Hover Mode, too, flaring to avoid ramming the purple aircraft. She triggered the laser, punching a hole in another green and black fighter, the second to last of Temple's escorts, and it fell from the sky with alarms shrieking. "Be shoving into over drive..."

Ljubica punched the mode button and shoved her throttle forward until it stopped. Her VTOL shrieked away from the remaining two enemy aircraft.

"Hiiiiiighwaaaaaay toooo-ooo Danger Zone!" Ljubica belted again, laughing happily. "I'll be taking you riiiiiidiiiiiing tooooooo! Danger Zooooooooooooone!"

She rolled several times as the sparkly, edgy arpeggiated synth leading to the bridge of the song kicked in, deftly avoiding the scything lasers from the pursuing fighters.

"Never be saying hello to you," Ljubica sang, bobbing her head slowly from left to right. She pulled into a steep climb. "Until you're getting on red line overload….

Ljubica cut the engines, letting her VTOL fall through the air on it's back as it stalled out. She plumetted several hundred feet towards the streets below, gently working the controls to keep from tumbling.

"Never knowing what you can be doing," she sang, switching to Hover Mode as she fell to below a hundred feet. The craft righted itself, and she sent off a salvo of missiles at the last escort. It exploded into a ball of fire, falling from the sky as she slapped the Mode button again. She took a deep breath as the computer announced _'Jet Mode activated.' _

'Until you're getting up as high as you can _goooooooooooo_!" Ljubica sang with gusto, adding a little growl to it and slamming the throttle forward. She climbed up into the sky again, just clearing the tops of the city's taller buildings.

Grinning as the guitar solo flooded her helmet's speakers, Ljubica dove hard towards the urban canyon of skyscrapers while her craft's turbines wailed. Cyrus had already turned to chase, so she'd see if he could keep up in a sea of the buildings.

She swept around a building as Temple fired his laser. The beam missed, ripping a gaping trench in the concrete and glass.

Ljubica yawed her fighter from side to side in time with the song, dodging missile after missile from Temple, the shredding guitar making her grin. She cut the stick over and pulled, tail fins narrowly missing a building she careened around in a hard turn.

Cyrus clipped the building on his way by, briefly snapping into Hover Mode to right the tumbling aircraft before converting to Jet Mode again and giving chase. He was lucky he hadn't torn the right wing off, but an alarm started going off in his cockpit anyway.

"I'm going to be hitting brakes," Ljubica crowed as the solo hit it's apex, slapping the Mode button. "And he will be flying right by!"

"Jesus Christ!" Cyrus shouted as he narrowly avoided ramming the purple fighter, and as he went streaking overhead, Ljubica got a lock on him and fired the heaviest salvo her F-69 had. Temple's fighter took the brunt of it in the tail, but one missile exploded just behind the canopy. The green VTOL exploded into flames and crashed to the streets below, sliding several yards before slamming into the lobby of the Ultor headquarters. Fire gushed out of the hole, and people started running into the streets.

Ljubica fired another barrage of missiles at the wreckage just to be sure. Ultor was going to be pissed, but she didn't care at all.

"Carlos," she growled, converting the fighter to Jet Mode and screaming towards Saints Row and the leveled Freckle Bitch's.

#

Ljubica set her VTOL down on it's landing struts roughly, canopy popping open. She leapt down to the ground, rushing over to the smoldering pile of brick, wood, and glass.

"Carlos!" Ljubica called, fear tightening her throat. She started peeling up sheets of wood and metal, heaving them aside, digging deeper into the rubble.

Ljubica sank to her knees, soot and dirt smudging her face. She clawed

"I'm sorry, Carlos, I was being-…"

Ljubica smelled lilacs. Head snapping to the side, Lin and Carlos were running up to her. The Hispanic man's clothing was singed and torn, but he otherwise looked fine.

"Lin helped dig me out," Carlos explained. "That was amazing flying, Boss. You're like Lin is behind the wheel of a car."

"You're an awesome pilot, Boss," Lin agreed.

Ljubica gave him a quick hug. "I am glad you were coming back to me, _niño_, truly."

Carlos nodded, but looked away. He wasn't sure how he was going to get through this, but maybe the Boss would come around. Still, his thoughts drifted towards another woman with black hair. The universe really did seem against him in everything, but he'd deal with it like he always did.

"Temple is dead," Ljubica told them darkly. "And rest of these assholes will be following him soon."


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Ljubica frowned at the unknown number on her phone. She and Carlos were in her office, and had been discussing their next move while Lin slept for the day. Finally she snatched it up, sighing.

"_Da?"_ she answered heatedly.

'_It's me, Donnie…'_

Ljubica hung up. A few seconds later it rang again. She mashed her finger on the screen. "Look asshole-…"

'_I just wanna talk,'_ he said quickly. _'Please?'_

Carlos shook his head no.

"Fine, but if I am not liking what you are having to be saying, you die," Ljubica hissed and hung up.

"It's a trap," Carlos told her.

"I am knowing it is being trap," Ljubica shot back.

"So I'm coming with you," he retorted, grinning.

Ljubica smiled a bit, nodding. "Thanks. Come on, I am knowing where he will be wanting to be meeting."

#

"Wait here," Ljubica said gently, leaving Carlos at her Phantom by the street.

"But…"

"No buts," she replied, shaking her head. "Just be waiting here, ok?"

Carlos nodded, crossing his arms. He didn't look happy, but she was the Boss.

Ljubica strode to the water's edge, scent of dirty, polluted water greeting her nose. She spotted Donnie standing on the edge of the concrete pier, just where she'd known he would be. This was where Lin died, after-all. He looked over at her approach.

"Thanks for seeing me," Donnie said, sitting down. "And for not trying to kill me. So you come here still, too?"

Ljubica nodded. She often came to the water where Lin had died to think. The sun had only recently set, so she had time before Lin could show up. She'd prefer to be alone if a trap was sprung, but Carlos should be enough.

"Is it really her?" he asked carefully.

Ljubica nodded again. "It is being Lin. Mostly. Being bit… darker, angrier if you are believing it, but Lin."

"Does she ever, you know, ask about me?" he asked.

"Sorry, but no," she told him gently. "You are realizing she was not really being your girl, yes?"

"She belonged to you," he replied bitterly.

Ljubica chuckled. "Lin is belonging to no one, Donnie. But yes, we were being together."

"Man..." he whined. "For what it's worth, I never wanted her to die. I really did love her."

"So did I," Ljubica whispered. Then the scent of lilacs swept over her.

"You did what?" Lin asked from behind them, slouching on her hip. She glowered at Donnie. "Hey asshole. We killing him, Boss?"

Before Ljubica could answer, Lin winced, doubling over with a cry. Carlos was doubled over in the distance, too.

"Boss get the fuck out of here!" she grated, gritting her teeth. Her eyes bled to the startling purple that meant she was angry, or hungry. It was clearly the former as her face contorted. "He set us up!"

"Wh-what?" Donnie stammered as he and Ljubica leapt to their feet. "I would never hurt you, Lin!"

Mother walked out from behind a pillar, flanked by Johnny and Aisha, as several squads of Fallen armed with tombstones rushed into position in an arch in front of them. A Circle assassin materialized behind Donnie, cracking him over the back of his head with the hilt of it's blade, and he collapsed to the ground like the ubiquitous sack of potatoes.

"You let her get shot, asshole," Johnny sneered. Donnie's eyes fluttered closed.

"You can't control me anymore," Lin hissed, realizing she couldn't move much else but her mouth. Growling, eyes flaring bright, she managed to take one step before doubling over in agony.

"But I can keep you from fighting back," Mother told her simply. "Take them. Carlos?"

Carlos grit his teeth, eyes winced shut. An angry buzzing had appeared behind his eyes.

"Carlos?" Mother purred. "Be a good boy and do as I say."

She'd use brute force after all, and gave a hard _push_ and her hold on him slammed back home, eliciting a cry from her son. He doubled over, vomiting a brown ichor as purplish red and orange blood mixed inside him, forced out as the powers struggled for dominance.

Carlos' mouth fell agape, eyes wide. Then his pupils bled to orange and he stood up straight and tall.

"Yes, Mother," he said finally, grinning darkly and moving forward.

Ljubica pulled her Shepherd and started firing, taking two Fallen in the forehead before the rest opened up with their shotguns.

Beanbags hammered into her body, and Ljubica fell to her knees as Johnny and Aisha rushed the vampire, throwing a net over her. Lin shrieked like a dying thing as she was hauled off, the sound of sizzling flesh audible over her screams. Carlos joined them, shoving her along.

"Lin!" Ljubica cried, forcing herself to stand. "Carlos!"

She knocked down two more green-clad foot soldiers, rushing forward before their shotguns filled the air with thunder and bean bags again, and she fell to her hands and knees, retching and strugling to breathe. There was a sharp prick at her neck, and blackness finally overcame her.

#

Ljubica's eyes fluttered open and she groaned as she came to. Her head pounded, skin feeling clammy; whatever she'd been given was still in her system. She felt like she'd taken a beating and was tied to a heavy wooden chair, never a good way to wake up after a sudden blackout. She was in a dark warehouse, full of crates and shipping containers, and the air smelt musty.

"Nobody's coming for you, Saint," Killbane rumbled, towering over the bound woman. He back handed his captive, and her head snapped to the side, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "After the Saints give us everything, I'm gonna bury you someplace nobody will ever find you."

Ljubica's vision swam as she tried to focus, but her heart was racing, breathing becoming rushed and uneven.

_Why am I always being tied up by wrestlers?_ she wondered bitterly, keeping the rising panic at bay through sheer force of will. She couldn't keep it up forever, so she sneered at the Fallen leader, using anger instead.

"I will be feeding you to fucking bear after I am escaping," Ljubica promised.

"Good thing for me that won't be happening," Killbane growled, getting low and in her face, hands on either arm rest.

Ljubica flinched, reminding herself she'd beaten this bitch once before and would do it again. But she was having trouble with her haunting memories, flashbacks threatening to consume her thoughts. She barely saw Killbane anymore.

"Oh ho, you're afraid of me," Killbane chortled. "Showing your true colors at last, Butcher?"

Ljubica spit in his face. "Be untying me, _Eddie_ and let us be finding out!"

Killbane hit her, throwing all of his considerable strength into a right cross that sent Ljubica, chair and all, crashing to the warehouse floor. She saw stars as she struggled to remain conscious, and he crouched down next to her.

"Manners never were your strong suit, little Icarus," he told her, grabbing a fistful of hair and lifting her back upright. "Maybe we'll pluck a few feathers first?"

Ljubica grit her teeth, refusing to scream at the pain searing through her scalp. A few strands came free, and Killbane let them fall away as he pulled a green handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his face clean.

"Now, you've been very naughty," Eddie finally said. "Temple is dead, who knows where Donnie is."

"I am hoping he is being dead!" Ljubica spat viciously, remembering his betrayal and Lin being captured. She had to stay angry, keep herself strong. "If he is not then I will be killing him after you! You're being real tough guy beating on someone tied to fucking chair, _Eddie!_"

Killbane raised his fist to hit her again. "Petulant bi-..."

"Don't move," Donnie barked, stepping into the light and pointing an NR4 at his former leader.

"Et tu, you yellow, turn coat bastard?" Killbane growled. "I'm going to give you one chance, and one chance only, to put that gun away and I promise to forgive and forget this transgression."

Donnie shook his head. "You used me and let the Circle have Lin."

Ljubica was confused, but wasn't going to complain about the turn of events.

"Of course I used you!" Killbane cried, slowly working his way to the right. "You're just a single hoplite in a battle much bigger than you."

Donnie kept his pistol trained on the shamed wrestler, while pulling a pocket knife from his front pocket and flicking it open. He sawed through the rope at Ljubica's right wrist, then handed her the blade.

Ljubica smiled gratefully, swallowing her pride at being rescued.

"I'd have been fine if you'd left Lin out of it," the former Fallen said bitterly. "You should have left her out of this."

"Be shooting him soon," Ljubica warned as she cut at the ropes around her ankles.

Killbane grabbed a crate hanging from chains, suspended on a track above. He heaved it towards Donnie, who fired, shot going wide. The crate smashed into the street racer with a sickening thud, sending him sliding several feet across the concrete floor where he lay still.

Ljubica finally freed herself, turning to see Killbane dashing for the exit. Snarling like an enraged animal, she sprinted after him like a Siberian badger chasing off a hungry Kamchatka bear. Eddie Pryor ducked through the door first, and when she finally reached it, he was running for a waiting green on black Python tied at the dock.

She wasn't going to make it.

Furious, Ljubica wished she'd grabbed Donnie's gun. Looking around desperately, she spotted a dock crane nearby, a shipping container suspended in the air from it's boom.

Now the Saints' leader grinned, jerking the cab's door open and hopping into the seat. She had an idea, it was her only chance, however slim, but he was approaching the right spot.

Ljubica slammed her hand onto the load release button. "Time to be reaching out and crushing someone!"

The shipping container fell through the air towards the docks, tilting to fall end-first, a square peg seeking it's round hole.

Killbane looked up in time to see the container come crashing down into his face before smashing through the dock with a tremendous roar of shattering wood, groaning metal, and splashing water. A great geyser rushed up through the opening, covering the dock in water before receding back to Lake Erie.

Ljubica hopped down out of the crane and jogged over to the hole, slowing as she approached and peering cautiously down into the foaming water.

The shipping container had already sank, bubbles rippling and boiling at the surface, and Killbane's body floated face down in the water. His neck was twisted, wrenched at a horrible angle, and his skull was crushed and deformed.

Killbane was dead.

"Bitch," Ljubica snarled, spitting into the water. She ran back towards the warehouse to check on Donnie, it was the least she could do since he'd saved her.

Donnie was just sitting up as Ljubica approached him, groaning and holding his already-bruising face. She kicked his NR4 away just in case.

"I wouldn't have cut you loose if I was going to kill you," Donnie told her, rolling his eyes.

"Is force of habit," Ljubica said with a shrug, helping him up. "And thank you."

"I did it for Lin, not you," he shot back, retrieving his weapon and tucking it in his waistband. "You want to storm the Circle's den with me?"

"Fuck right I do," Ljubica growled dangerously. "Be driving me to Purgatory, we're going to be needing guns. Lots of guns."


	25. Chapter 25

AN - Thank you to those of you still following me on this madness, and to those of you that just started. I appreciate the reviews!

It's about to get raw =/

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"Scream for me, Lin," Carlos hissed, dragging a knife across her ribs, slowly, counting them as purple blood oozed from her side. "One… two… three…"

"Kill me, or are you too much of a pussy?" Lin spat. She was chained to a table in a dark, mouldering brick chamber. Candlelight flickered from the walls, casting Carlos in a ghoulish way as he leered down at her.

He ground the blade into her side, frowning, twisting and shoving it into his former sister's body.

Now Lin screamed, gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut.

"That's a good girl," Carlos told her, pulling the knife away and brushing her hair out of her face on his way to the altar for another implement to hurt her. "Pain is the way to salvation. Mother will be happy with me; bad girls need to be punished."

"They do," Mother agreed, walking into the chamber. "That buffoon Killbane is dead, his Fallen scattered. I suppose I owe the leader of the Saints a bit of thanks for that, it saves us time disposing of him."

"She's gonna kill you," Lin growled darkly. "Or I am when I get free."

"Lin's very powerful, Mother," Carlos told the older woman, who was nearing the table. "Be careful."

Mother seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Come, leave her. I want to know what happened to you when you were gone, _mon fils_. Tell your Mother everything."

Carlos nodded, setting down the serrated grapefruit spoon he'd picked up, and left the room with Mother.

As soon as they were gone, Lin pulled at her bonds, but they wouldn't give. Closing her eyes, she drew on her power, feeling her strength double, triple, chains cutting into her wrists as she pulled, but it wasn't enough. Sighing, she fell back on the table, staring at the ceiling. Now she was hungry, too.

"I know you're out there, Boss," she said quietly, eyes flashing. "Don't keep me waitin' too long."

"Never keep a lady waitin'," Johnny agreed as he and Aisha walked in. He picked up the knife, blade covered in drying purple blood. "Mother wanted Eesh and I to keep you company while Carlos tells her all about his little trip."

#

Donnie felt a little uneasy as Ljubica led him through Purgatory, very conscious of the green flags he still wore in the middle of the headquarters of the 3rd Street Saints. Men and women in purple glared at him, gesturing rudely at their passing.

"He's being with me," Ljubica growled, pushing past two heavyset men and heading down the hall to her personal armory. The Saints hadn't cleared the zombies out of the basement yet. She led him into her bedroom.

"Wait here," she ordered, moving into the closet. She opened a panel on the back wall and punched in her access code, '_5582422_.' The wall slid open to reveal racks of weapons. She grabbed two K-8 Krukovs off a rack and two of the large box magazines they accepted, then headed back to Donnie.

"I have a plan," he said when she appeared. "But you gotta trust me. It doesn't involve assault weapons."

"Unfortunate," she shot back. "Because I am not trusting you."

"Look, the Fallen and Circle are kind of allies," Donnie explained. "If I show up with you as my captive, they'll let me in."

"Like hell I am letting you be tying me up, _mudak,_" she retorted, frowning.

"Trust me, storming the place is a bad idea!"

"_Nyet!_ Is shit plan, Donnie!"

"Do you wanna see your people again?"

Ljubica glared at him for several moments. "Mother dies. No trading, no deals. The _suka_ is dying."

"That's on you," Donnie told her. "I only care about getting Lin out."

Ljubica nodded, narrowing her eyes. "Let's be getting dangerous."

#

Ljubica hated the idea even more now that she was standing in Mourning Woods with no weapons, hands bound behind her back. If Donnie messed this up, she was dead. He had her Nocturne strapped to his back and held a Viper rifle to her back. A S3X Hammer was slung at his side.

A chill, bitter wind tore at her hair, and she wished her hands were free just so she could pull up the hood of her sweatshirt.

"Get moving bitch," he hissed, then lowly, added "Sorry, it has to look real…"

One of the Circle's assassins moved from out behind a tree, confronting them. "Fallen are gone," it said, voice ethereal, yet raspy.

"I'm still here," Donnie retorted, shoving Ljubica forward roughly and making her stumble. "With a delivery for Mother."

"She has no need of further sacrifices," the creature whispered. "Leave."

"This _sacrifice_ is the leader of the Saints," Donnie said arrogantly. "Mother's gonna wanna see this one."

Ljubica didn't like being called a sacrifice. She cast a baleful glare over her shoulder at Donnie.

"I will take her down to Mother."

Donnie shook his head, improvising. "If the Fallen are gone, I wanna talk to Mother about joining her crew. _This_ bitch won't have one much longer."

The assassin seemed to cock it's head for a moment, then nodded. "Come with me."

#

Ljubica looked around as they splashed through cold, fetid water. The tunnel they were in was long, lined with cracked stonework, and descending at a shallow angle. Other tunnels joined it or branched off from it. Old, metal-caged service lamps lit their way with a sickly, dim, dark yellow light.

The Circle emissary was several paces ahead, not even looking back at them. Suddenly Ljubica's wrists were free, and she flexed her fingers behind her back as a pistol was tucked into the waistband at the small of her back. Then she felt the handle of her sword pressed to her palms, and she curled her fingers around it. Carefully, she brought it around to the front of her, and with two quick steps she lunged, stabbing through the creature's back. It let out a shrill, piercing wail before the tattered shroud of it's clothing fell to the water with a splash, empty.

Ljubica winced. "Do you think they were hearing that?"

Donnie gripped his Viper tensely, looking around in the low light. "I hope no-…"

He was interrupted by a sudden chaos of sound; groans, screams, and shouts filling the air. The tunnel ahead of them was full of Circle and shambling zombies.

"Real fucking shit plan, Donnie!" Ljubica shouted, quickly strapping the Nocturne to her back. It was a bad weapon for the tunnel.

"You're the one that made all the noise!" he shot back, tossing her the Hammer.

Ljubica fired into the first zombie that reached them, it's head rupturing and splattering backwards. The headless body collapsed into the water.

"We need to be getting to end of tunnel," she said, blasting another zombie into pulp. "Then we are splitting up."

Donnie nodded, moving up next to her and focusing his fire further back. Ljubica's STAG shotgun was making short work of anything close, and showing to be quite effecting at mid-range, too.

As the were nearing the halfway point, Donnie fell into the water. He'd never _fought_ the Circle before, and one of them had grabbed him as they made their way past her.

"Boss!" Donnie cried, spluttering water and wrestling with the spike-haired woman intent on drowning him.

"I am not your-…" Ljubica started, then turned and cracked the woman over the back of the head with the stock of her Hammer. "_Suka_," she spat, kicking the body off him and putting a blast of energy pellets into it. Then she turned and started firing rapidly into the zombies that had gotten close while she was distracted, her Hammer's power system thrumming with each burst.

"Fucking be getting back up, Donnie!" she shouted. "Before this thing is overheating and we are overrun!"

Donnie clambered to his feet, firing rapidly to give her some breathing room. As they gained ground, he eased up before his own weapon overheated.

"Couldn't we have brought regular guns?" he whined. "Keeping track of these things is a bitch."

"Are you wanting to be running out of ammo in tunnels beneath the city surrounded by undead?" she retorted wryly as they stepped into a chamber.

"Holy shit," Donnie breathed. "We made."

"Was there ever being any doubt?" Ljubica asked smugly, looking around. There were several exits, and the roof was barely visible in the dim light, high over head. Pipes ran every which way, laced with cobwebs.

"This is as far as you're goin' _Boss_," Johnny sneered, stepping in from a walkway. His katana was held loosely to his side, but his grip tightened, bringing the blade up in front of him.

"Go Donnie!" Ljubica cried. "Be finding Lin, I am having this!"

Donnie nodded, sprinting for a far exit, but Johnny ignored him. His eyes were on Ljubica, who hadn't even drawn her sword.

"So, Ljubica, long time no see," he said casually, starting to circle. "Carlos had a _lot_ to talk about, you know. Your little trip? Sounded _real_ fun…"

Ljubica frowned. Carlos had seen a lot, and heard a lot. What had he told them? For that matter, had Johnny been running around telling everyone her name?

"So you and Lin again, huh?" he asked bitterly.

Ljubica shook her head. "She was kissing me, Johnny, not other way around."

"Not how Carlos put it."

"Carlos is fucking liar, then," she shot back. She'd hurt him, and there was no telling what he would do or say now that he was back under Mother's sway.

"Or you're a lyin' bitch," he spat, taking a swipe at her. She danced back out of the way, feeling the air move as his blade slipped past.

"Johnny, be fighting her," Ljubica urged. "You are strongest man I am knowing, you can be breaking free! Do not make me be killing you!"

Johnny laughed. "You ain't even drawn your sword. You're about to die, Ljuba."

"Johnny," she said gently, raising her Hammer to her shoulder. "You are not like them, remember?"

Johnny froze, smirking. "So I'm not…"

Ljubica had studied her STAG weaponry extensively. With Kinzie's help, they'd discovered the power cells could be overloaded and turned into a makeshift bomb. She flipped the safety lever to 'O' and squeezed the trigger. There was a sharp whine, and she threw the S3X up into the pipes over their head, throwing herself back into the tunnel.

The explosion ripped through the chamber, broken chunks of concrete and pipe crashing down onto Johnny and sending a cloud of dust and debris into the adjoining corridors. Ljubica was on her feet before the dust settled, drawing her Nocturne and moving forward warily. Johnny was pinned under several twisted metal beams, blood trickling from a wound on his head, and his glasses were shattered and askew.

"Johnny?" she asked quietly. Had she over estimated his toughness, had she just killed the man she loved?

She let herself get distracted for too long.

Ljubica grunted, staring down dumbly for a moment at the spear point protruding from her stomach. Part of her mind reasoned that at least it was to the side, and not directly in the middle. But then it was twisted viciously, and she grit her teeth against the scream ripping up from her throat, stumbling and forcing her knees not to buckle.

Aisha grinned darkly from behind her. Mother was going to be proud of her. "Die, bitch," she said with satisfaction, twisting her weapon again. "Scream for me, suffer before you die. Johnny never loved you-…"

Ljubica roared defiantly, spinning in place with enough force that the spear stayed buried in her middle and was wrenched out of the former RnB singer's hands.

Instinct had taken over, fight or flight. Ljubica's sword came around, and Aisha's head tumbled to the dirty sewer tiles, bouncing a few times before rolling to a stop, eyes staring blankly.

"Eesh!" Johnny bellowed, long, drawn out, and full of anguish. He struggled against the rubble pinning him down, but was unable to free himself. "I'll fuckin' kill you bitch, you hear me!?" he raged. "You're fuckin' dead!"

Ljubica stifled a cry as she pulled Aisha's spear out of her body, letting it clatter to the ground as she wavered on her feet. Her hand went to her side, blood trickling hot over her fingers. It was a nasty wound, and would probably kill her if she didn't see to it soon. She would feel terrible later, but right now, her mind wouldn't let her dwell on who she just killed.

Ljubica plucked her knife from her boot and cut off the sleeve of her hoody, packing it into the hole left by Aisha's spear. It would have to do for now.

"I am not having time to be bleeding," she growled, ignoring Johnny's screaming and stalking towards the next chamber.

#

A high whine pulsed outside the door several times, then went silent. Lin's eyes fluttered as she fought her inner monster, struggling to maintain control. Whenever she was badly hurt, some… _thing_ inside her raged to take over, to fight, to kill. Her pale skin was covered in her purple blood, most of her clothing cut away to reveal several ragged wounds still oozing. She'd healed as best she could, but Johnny had just kept going until she was exhausted. Now she hungered, she couldn't heal for some reason, and she smelled _food_ outside the chamber. If it would just come to her…

Donnie kicked open the door to the room she was being kept in, eyes finding her in the darkness. "Lin!"

"D-Donnie?" she made herself whimper. "C'mere, Donnie, I'm hurt bad, I need help…"

Lin grinned slyly to herself in the dark. _Just a little closer, asshole_…

"Where's the key?" he asked as he ran up, seeing her terrible condition, her gaunt and sickly frame. "Did you see where they put the key?"

"P-Please, Donnie, don't let me die again…"

Panic rising, he took careful aim with the Viper and fired into the chain at her ankle. The first shot damaged it, and a second snapped it with a sharp twang. He quickly took out the rest and moved to her side.

"Lin, it's okay, I won't let you die again, I love-…"

Lin's eyes flashed open, irises a brilliant and bright purple. She sat up in a flash, baring her fangs, and then dove into him. As they fell onto the floor, she bit savagely into his neck, and Donnie's screams echoed throughout the catacombs.

#

Ljubica was covered in blood and gore. Using the Nocturne on zombies would do that. She made her way into another chamber, urgency driving her. She was feeling a little light-headed, but pushed on; she had to find Mother and kill her, then she could come back for Johnny.

As Ljubica entered the chamber, there she was. Mother was standing between a wall and an altar with her back to the doorway, attention on some vials and urns. The Russian woman reached back for her Shepherd, but grasped nothing but air. She'd lost it at some point in the fighting. Quietly, she stalked into the room, gripping her Nocturne tightly.

"_Niña_," Carlos purred, and Ljubica turned just in time to deflect a blow from a massive wood sword, the blow staggering her backward. It was nearly as big as she was, and the edges were lined with jagged shards of obsidian. She'd never seen anything like it.

"You made it very far, Saint," Mother announced. "But I think you've come far enough. _Die._"

Pain lanced through Ljubica's body and she doubled over. Her heart felt like it had stopped beating, slowly being crushed by an unyielding pressure; agony bloomed in her body, and her breath rattled in her chest. She grit her teeth, forcing each breath in an out of her body, but her hands fell open and the sword clattered to the ground at her feet.

"I said _Die,_" Mother hissed, and a wave of power swept across the room.

Ljubica finally cried out, falling to her knees. Blood began to trickle out the corners of her mouth, and blinding pain seemed to shatter her skull. Ever defiant, she pushed up onto one foot, then the other, and managed to stand against the onslaught of suffering that assaulted her.

"Curious," Mother purred. "Once would have killed almost anyone, two for certain."

"You fucked with the wrong woman," Lin growled from the door. She'd tracked Ljubica here, and a pale Donnie stood just behind her, cradling his Viper laser rifle. The vampire stalked into the room, Donnie covering Mother with his rifle.

"Leave her alone, Mother," he ordered. "You're finished."

Ljubica spat out blood, panting and sweating, but she was slowly recovering. "Is being over, _suka_."

Carlos, being ignored for the moment, snuck up behind Donnie and cracked him over the back of the head; the mechanic collapsed to the ground with a yelp. Mother wanted him to suffer for his betrayal, and death would be too quick.

"Hardly," the Matron of the Circle purred. She unceremoniously pulled an NR4 from her altar and fired several times at her former daughter.

Lin cried out as bullets ripped through her body, spraying the wall behind her with blood. She looked down at herself, then up at Mother in disbelief before crumpling forward.

"Lin!" Ljubica shouted, turning towards her enemy, face contorted with hatred. Aisha, now Lin, maybe Johnny, how many more people would she lose every time someone came at her? She braced herself for a charge.

"You lost that protection when you left me, dear daughter," Mother explained, turning her attention back to Ljubica.

"Now, _Die_…"

Ljubica's eyes bulged, and a spray of blood misted from her lips. She fell to her hands and knees, wheezing and coughing, back spasming and bowing as another wave of searing agony burned through her. Carlos watched in silence. Inside his head, he screamed at Mother, begged her to stop this, but he could only watch from within as the woman he still cared for, still loved, was tortured to death in front of him.

Ljubica retched up a gout of blood, and she slumped forward onto her face as her elbows finally collapsed, refusing to hold her weight any longer.

"_Nyet_…"

"Hmm?" Mother asked. "You _are_ a stubborn one."

"_Nyet_," Ljubica growled, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees. Groaning, she forced herself back to her feet, swaying slightly for a moment and wiping blood from her chin with the back of her hand. "I won't be beaten by some _suka_ in my own city."

Mother frowned, raising the NR4. "We'll do it your way, then."

She squeezed the trigger.

Carlos threw himself in the way, taking three bullets to the chest, before another struck him in the head just above the right eye.

Ljubica watched in horror as Carlos stumbled back and fell, blood streaming from his wounds.

_Not again, niño..._

Rage welled up inside her, and as Mother brought the pistol to bear on her again, Ljubica charged.

Mother began firing, and Ljubica zigged and zagged her way towards her. Pain burned in her hip and arm as she was hit, but it was distant and she dismissed it as unimportant. With a ragged battle cry, she dove through Mother's altar, scattering it in every direction, and tackled the older woman.

Mother's head slammed into the brick floor as they landed, and Ljubica started viciously beating her about the face. Blow after savage blow landed, orange blood spraying from split skin. Even when there was a pop, pain lancing down her forearm to announce a broken bone in her hand, Ljubica kept fighting. This woman had done horrible things to her and her people, her friends had died, or would live with the terrible things they had done. Ljubica poured all her hatred, rage, and pain that this woman had caused into each and every shattering blow, until Mother's face finally caved in under the brutal onslaught, a mass of bloody, pulpy flesh. Only then did Ljubica stop, chest heaving and eyes wild.

It was finally over. Mother was dead. Ljubica slumped against the wall, still straddling her enemy's corpse. The stone was cool against her face, and she wanted nothing more than to just lie there until the pain went away. But her people needed her, maybe it wasn't over, yet.

"Carlos!" Ljubica gasped, staggering to her feet and stumbling over to his body. She jerked the knife from her boot and sliced her wrist open, pushing it to his lips. She noticed the hit to the forehead had only been a graze, maybe there was hope for him after-all.

"Be coming back to me Carlos!" Ljubica urged, an edge of desperation in her voice. She blinked against the tears welling in her eyes. But Carlos didn't respond, laying there cold and dead, brownish blood seeping from his wounds.

_Why did he always have to die-…_ she started to wonder, and then he latched onto her wrist with a growl. Ljubica's brow furrowed, it didn't feel like Lin; it felt creepy and unsettling, like some dead thing was sucking her life from her. With a grunt, she pushed him away, gazing down into his soft, brown eyes again.

"_Niña_…" he breathed.

Then Carlos' eyes widened in horror. Realization of what he'd just done hit him, and he got up, facing away as feelings of shame and anger fought for control. "You should have let me die, _niña_… instead you helped me become more of a monster."

"Carlos," Ljubica said gently. "We will be working it out…"

"Sure, I'm fine," Lin croaked. She was covered in blood with several ragged holes in her back where the bullets had exited her body. "I need a vacation…"

Ljubica didn't think, she just scooted over and pressed her bleeding wrist to Lin's mouth. With a growl the vampire started feeding, fangs pricking into her flesh.

Ljubica felt herself swoon as that incredible euphoria swept over her. The high was better than any drug the Saints sold, the pleasure insurmountable. It started to carry her away when an ugly voice broke the near-silence.

"Well, well, well," Johnny said from the doorway, voice bitter and ashen. His clothes were tattered and torn, glasses gone, now. "Seems little Ljuba has a new playmate, don't it."

Ljubica went cold with anger. She'd trusted Johnny with her name, something she'd never done before, and he just spat that trust right back in her face.

Lin didn't seem to notice, and Ljubica jerked her hand free. The vampire surged to her feet, baring fangs and hissing upon seeing Johnny and feeling Ljubica's anger at his presence.

"Johnny," Ljubica said softly, hoping he'd see reason. "I was not chopping off her head until her sword was stabbing me in back."

Carlos glanced at Ljubica. _Her name was Ljuba?_

"But you killed her!" Johnny shouted, voice thick with accusation. "And just like he did! How fuckin' could you?"

Carlos turned his eyes back to Johnny. That explained why Aisha was missing.

"She was being my friend, too!" Ljubica shot back, anger growing hot instead, keeping her mind forgetful of her body's injuries. "But I am not dying because someone else is wanting to be killing me!"

Johnny shook his head. "How could you?" he asked again. "I loved you…"

"Apparently you were loving her more," Ljubica shot back, growing bitter as well. She didn't want to do this, but Johnny wasn't giving her a choice. "I am loving you, Johnny, you are knowing that! But knowing you still loved her was being hard on me…"

"Don't fuckin' talk to me about love," Johnny spat. "Don't you fuckin' dare!"

"Johnny…" Ljubica murmured, feeling like she'd just been slapped. "Johnny…?"

Johnny swallowed. "You're fucking dead to me, Ljubica. Go to fuckin' hell."

Lin looked at Ljubica then. Knowing her name was overshadowed by the pain etching itself on her leader's face. "Boss?" she asked quietly, rage welling up from the depths. Rage, and power. "Say the word and I rip him apart."

Ljubica let herself go cold, dark. "If you are not wanting me, then be fucking off and dropping your god-damned flag, bitch."

"Damn fuckin' right," Johnny growled. "You ruined the Saints!"

"Leave before I am killing you, then, Johnny Gat," Ljubica growled softly. Louder, she nearly shouted "Fucking go away from me!"

Lin narrowed her eyes, lips curling back in a snarl. "Go Johnny. Before something bad happens."

"Man, fuck you, too, Lin," Johnny retorted. "Soulless dyke."

"Who the fuck do you think you are," Lin hissed. So much was going on, so much blood, so much tension, that her control was slipping dangerously close to something evil.

"Just go," Ljubica said quietly, sounding tired. "Just be leaving, Johnny. We can be fighting about this another day."

"What's wrong with today?" Johnny asked heatedly. "Poor Ljubica is too fuckin' hurt!? That ain't the bad-ass I know!"

"Quit saying my name, Johnny!" Ljubica snapped, forcing herself to her feet.

Johnny grinned darkly. "You know what? Killing you now, that's only going to make me feel better short-term. I'm fuckin' outta here, I got a better idea. We're done here."

Johnny stormed out of the chamber. Lin started to go after him, but Ljubica put her hand out.

"Let him be going," she said wearily, slumping with a splash to her knees in the muck.

Lin came to her side, giving Ljubica a tight squeeze around the shoulders. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Boss, believe it or not."

"Lin?" Ljubica asked tiredly. "And Carlos…?"

"Yeah, Boss?" they said as one, glancing at each other afterward.

"You two are knowing my name," Ljubica said with a sigh. "You can be using it in private, now."

Carlos swallowed. "I don't, I mean I can…"

"No problem," Lin agreed. "It beats calling you _Ivana_."

Ljubica leaned into the other woman, fighting back the sorrow that threatened to rip from her throat. Her best friend and lover hated her. "Just be fucking doing it, Carlos, okay? Or _niña_, whatever."

Lin managed a faint smile, though it was mirthless. "Ljubica, huh?"

Ljubica nodded. "Not how I was wanting you to be finding out."

Lin nodded. "I bet. So, you foreign-…"

"Yes, it is having meaning," Ljubica interrupted, remembering Johnny had asked the same thing. Her throat caught at the memory, but she pushed on. "It is meaning violet."

"No shit?" Lin asked.

Ljubica nodded.

"Can you walk?" Carlos asked.

Ljubica forced herself to stand, again, wincing at the pain that lanced through her middle and leg. Taking stock, her entire body was one big searing, burning ache. "I am thinking so."

Lin smiled gently, as Carlos got on her other side. "Then let's get you home, Ljubica."

There was a groan from behind them, and as they turned, Donnie was sitting up, rubbing the back of his head. "What happened?"

"Hey, sorry about that," Carlos said, chuckling. "I kind of knocked you out."

Lin rolled her yes. "Will you ever stop sucking, Donnie?"

"We might not be here with out his help," Ljubica admitted wearily.

"It hurts me, too," Lin retorted, sounding sour.

"Let us be going home, comrades," Ljubica told them, Lin and Carlos helping her limp towards the tunnels.

It got raw


	26. Eplogue

AN - Wow, this is it. This wasn't some 100k+ word epic, and it can use some work, but it's done.

Epilogue

Ljubica shivered against the cold wind, long black coat blowing along with it. It was day time, so Lin was asleep, and she wanted to be here alone. She stood in the same place she'd stood all those years ago, the first time she died.

But she'd been the one to kill her this time.

Aisha. They'd never been terribly close, but if the RnB singer had ever needed her, Ljubica was there. She'd blown up Kingdom Come Records to free her, saved her little sister from the Vice Kings, even tried to talk her out of living in Ronin territory while being seen with a known Saint. None of it mattered, like any woman associated with the Saints or it's members, she was tough, stubborn.

"I am being sorry, Eesh," Ljubica mumbled. And she was. She knew through Carlos that Aisha had been inside the dark shadow of herself.

And she'd killed her anyway. She could blame instincts, heat of the moment, passion but at the end of the day, Ljubica had killed Aisha.

The Russian woman had an inexplicable feeling she wasn't alone in the graveyard anymore. She turned, and saw Johnny holding a bouquet of flowers, sitting leaned against a tree and looking at the sky. He suddenly looked up, that same instinct pulling his gaze towards her.

"I ain't here to start a fight," he growled. "Just payin' my respects to the dead."

Ljubica nodded, and Johnny got up, walking over to stand near her. Neither of them were willing to start a fight in a cemetery while honoring the dead.

"Johnny," she said quietly. "Johnny, you are having no idea how sorry I am…"

Johnny wouldn't look at her. "Sorry don't bring Eesh back."

"She was my friend, too!" Ljubica told him heatedly. "You are thinking I am not feeling terrible?"

Johnny shook his head. "No, I don't," he said flatly. "You're a remorseless bitch without a fuckin' soul."

The accusation stung, but had a ring of truth to it.

"I am not being sorry for having to kill her," Ljubica finally admitted to herself. Survival was one of her strongest traits. "It was being her or me. But it is wounding me to my very depths to have killed Aisha, Johnny. You must be believing me…"

Johnny was silent for a moment. "But even if I believed you, Ivana, that don't change what happened."

He'd stopped using her name. At that moment Ljubica would have told the whole world just to hear him say it, but she remained silent.

"Every time I close my eyes," he went on. "Every fuckin' time, I see you cutting' off Eesh's head. You, Ivana! Not Jyunichi any more! _You!_"

Ljubica flinched. She'd hurt him deep, maybe too deep to fix. She didn't know. "Johnny, we can be bringing her back like you…"

"No!" Johnny roared, standing in a rush. "Just let her fuckin' _rest_, damn it, like you shoulda let me! Now get the fuck outta here before I change my mind on that fighting' thing. And don't try to find me after today, you won't."

Everything inside her screamed to meet his challenge, but instead Ljubica only nodded and turned away, glad he couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. She walked away from the only man she'd ever truly let herself love, and that she'd let love her back, refusing to give in to the sorrow. She left Johnny Gat alone in Mourning Woods Cemetery and hoped that some day he would forgive her.

Damn, what a sad note to end this one on. I think I owe these two for what I've put them through this story


End file.
